


Slices of Life and Family (crossover)

by bluefrosty27, Mizuuma



Series: Illusion IS Reality [2]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Children of Characters, Cuddling & Snuggling, Extended Pines family tree, F/F, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Genderfluid Character, Human Bill Cipher, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Miz Cipher, Multi, Original Character(s), Other, Pinestripletsau, Protective Bill Cipher, Reincarnation, Sebastian Pines, Self-Indulgent, Self-Insert, Sharing, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, The family we choose, Trans Character, Unplanned Pregnancy, hand holding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2019-11-17 21:08:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 247,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18106496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluefrosty27/pseuds/bluefrosty27, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mizuuma/pseuds/Mizuuma
Summary: A crossover between two different fanfics:Illusion IS Reality, by MizuumaThe Life and Times of Sebastian Pines/The Demon Under the Eyepatch, by BlueFrosty27---Mostly gen with some random NSFW segments thrown in for funBluefrosty: To traumatize me!Mizuuma: (ᗒᗨᗕ)(There'll be warnings to protect innocent minds, if you don't want the explicit version, the censored one will be posted in Fanfiction.net)---The story follows Seb's life after Gravity Falls, it has character development thrown in with a dash of slow burn romance and more adventures for the Pines family!Old characters will come back, new characters will make an appearance, all to accompany Seb through the rest of his journey as a human :3Since the BlueBill Arc of IiR isn't done yet, we're gonna write out what Seb is doing in the meantime before the dimensions synch up





	1. Not a chapter, just a placeholder for now

Mizuuma: Okay, since the BlueBill Arc in Illusion IS Reality is taking longer than originally planned, Frosty and I are gonna write bits of what Seb is doing until his dimension finally synchs up with the point in time where Miz pops in.


	2. Chapter 1: What to expect when you're expecting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new story unfolds. What happens after a happy ending? Is it really happy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mizuuma: What happens after the Happily Ever After? Such a thing can't exist, a happily ever after is simply unrealistic! Life goes on. Things change, for both the better and worse. Our poor little Seb's struggles aren't over.

**CHAPTER 1: What to expect when you’re expecting**

\---

Wanda always thought it was super cheesy and cringey when couples celebrated their months together. ‘Whole month together, love you with all my heart’ ‘A month with you is an eternity in heaven~’ But...maybe she was beginning to understand why they did it.  
  
She counted every day she spent with Seb, every night the two of them could cuddle together and sleep, holding each other. Days after meeting his mom and formally meeting all his family, after Wanda had made sure it was safe for him (health wise) not to have anything in his eye socket, since that odd yellow eye he had was gone now, they went shopping. They also went to the hairdresser together (People gave Seb AND Wanda a few weird looks at the way Sebastian acted, but she knew they were just JEALOUS her partner was amazing and his masculinity wasn’t fragile and subjected to stereotypes) and celebrated their 24 hour time together in a fancy restaurant. It meant more for them than any other couple. They had been separated for long enough, and they refused to waste any moment they could spend together.  
  
The two joked around before going out, Wanda pouted and tried to shield her face as Seb tried to put fake eyelashes on her. “Wanda~ You AGREED this morning!”  
  
“Well, I changed my mind!” The natural blonde whined.  “What a baby~ I swear you’ll look amazing~Just look at me~” Seb fluttered his eyelashes.  
  
Wanda laughed and pulled him closer for a kiss. “Ok...Just because you look too handsome for me to say no…”  
  
They stayed in the restaurant talking, laughing and staring into each other’s eyes until they were kicked out.  
  
The two stayed in a hotel for the few free days they had before returning...They... didn’t want to bother Stan with the accommodations or cause them any trouble or noise~ Stan and Carla had a little boy who needed sleep and all~  
  
...and neither Seb nor Wanda were planning to 'sleep' until they collapsed in exhaustion together on the bed.  
  
\---.---  
  
Seb said bye to his brothers a few days later after the ‘prank’. He was a bit sad, but they were going to see each other again soon for Christmas.  
  
He moved in with Wanda, of course, and the first thing he did was complain about how it was all dusty. “Well, in my defense, I lived here alone...I didn’t use the space very much…” It was a nice flat, quite spacious with two rooms, a nice living room connected to the dining room, a kitchen and two bathrooms (one in the hall and another connected to Wanda's bedroom). “Well, now I’m here! And we’re cleaning this place!” Seb wrinkled his nose and shook his head in disapproval.  
  
Wanda chuckled and hugged his arm. “Yes, you’re here…”  
  
\--.--  
  
Wanda's parents couldn’t believe at first that the (really handsome) man Wanda was introducing them to was Sebastian, the little, awkward teen they met years ago. But after their initial shock, Linda started crying. They were thrilled to see Sebastian again. Well, thrilled was a big understatement. Her mom had given her poor boyfriend a flying tackle hug and sobbed into his shoulder. "MY SWEET BABY! YOU'RE ALIVE!!!"  
  
Sebastian wasn't sure how to react. "Ma'am…"  
  
"Just call me Linda! Or mother." Linda Friedman wiped her eyes and smiled at the handsome man that skinny boy had grown up into. She had missed a lot feeding him. Sebastian blushed. "O-oh…" Wanda’s father, Elijah, walked up to pat Sebastian’s back before pulling him for a fast hug. “I’m glad you’re alive, son. But I would have preferred paying your hospital bill again more than worrying over your survival for over ten years.” He said solemnly.  
  
Seb blinked up at the other man. Then he looked down at the woman in his arms. “O-oh…” His remaining eye teared up. Wanda’s parents really cared about him that much? He… he never knew...Very few people outside his family have cared for him...  
  
“Oh gosh, sweetie, are you crying?!” Linda gasped and her hands flew to her mouth. Seb shook his head. “No, please don’t worry, I-I’m j-j-just--” Seb stuttered, he WAS crying, but he wasn’t trying to. He didn’t mean to. He… he was…  
  
“It’s okay son. We’re just happy you’re safe.” Elijah smiled at the younger man and leaned in to hug him as well, the couple holding Sebastian close. Seb sniffled. Son. He… he had called him son. W-was this what it was supposed to feel like? To have a father who… who loved him? Matsuda was always like this too...but-but he had forgotten what-what it felt like… it had been so LONG. He should pay him a visit, he needed to. What an ungrateful bastard, after all he did for him and he hadn’t visited his tomb once.  
  
“I-I’m sorry…” He hiccuped, trying, and failing, not to cry. The Friedman family didn’t criticize him for crying though, they just held him until he calmed down. Wanda had joined the hug at some point.  
  
“I’m so glad you’re safe and sound~” Linda cooed. “Now we can finally be grandparents, Elijah!” She held her husband’s arm. “Mooommmmm!” Wanda moaned into her palms and Seb frowned, blushing slightly. What was up with old ladies and wanting to be grandmothers anyway? His mom also wanted MORE grandbabies. Aside from the embarrassment, the visit to Wanda’s parents went well.  
  
Then her parents found out that Seb was cooking for Wanda now because she had been eating instant noodles and chicken nuggets since forever. She had to deal with her parents scolding her about that and her mom profusely thanking Sebastian for taking care of her and how he was really the best for her daughter. Her Dad laughed and said he could sleep relieved now knowing she wasn’t going to die starved. Her parents were so embarrassing!  
  
Really!  
  
\----  
  
Wanda was surprised at how… domestic this all was. She would come home from work tired and annoyed, to find that Seb had cleaned and cooked. It was nice to have a real meal instead of living off meals she bought from the grocery store or cup noodles. It always lifted her mood, especially when Seb was all dramatic and followed her around like “Your dinner is served, madame! Follow me to your best meal until now~”  
  
Sometime around fall, Wanda got sick. She was SURE it wasn't because of Sebastian's cooking (even though he had worried and blamed himself for it) she thought she had just caught some kind of stomach flu because of the change of seasons and the cooling temperature. Still, her nausea finally settled down and the couple settled back into their happy domestic life together once again.  
  
First it was her period, irregular as it was...And then Wanda started gaining weight.  
  
Her coworkers noticed but Wanda ignored their comments. She was just eating more. (She was so hungry lately.) It wasn't even that much…. Right? She was still healthy! And it was just because Sebastian cooked delicious food!  
  
But after hearing Mabel ask her if she was pregnant back in Christmas…  
  
Wanda shuddered. She didn't want to think about that. She wasn't ready to be a mother. She would never be ready. And she was doing so well in her career, she...she didn’t want to ruin everything with a pregnancy...  
  
“Wands?” Seb tilted his head, watching her stare at the wall. They had returned home a few days ago, and Wanda had been distant since then. The blonde woman turned back at him. “Seb, I need to go to the hospital…” Seb frowned worriedly. “You are feeling sick again?” He grabbed her hand and Wanda squeezed it tightly.  
  
“Well, I-I just want to make sure...Mabel-”  
  
“If it’s what she said, don’t listen to her, Mabel is always eating sugar and she doesn’t think before speaking!” Seb assured her quickly. Wanda shook her head and awkwardly rubbed her chubby stomach. “I-it’s not about your niece, don’t worry...but, I’ll call for an appointment, um, when I have time…” She REALLY needed to make sure she wasn’t preg-pregnant…  
  
She had no idea what she would do if she was...  
  
Seb was really worried for Wanda. They’ve been together for four months and she had been sick for half of that time. It was obviously something he did. He had done something and now Wanda was sick.  “I’m sure everything will be fine…” He didn’t want to even imagine what he’d do if Wanda was sick, or WORSE! Preg-preg-THAT. He wasn’t ready for something like that.  
  
“I’ll be there for you.” He said solemnly. Wanda wiped the tears threatening to fall and she smiled. “And~ I’m here too. Don’t forget to get enrolled in the classes, I’ll bother you endlessly.” Seb had told her he STILL hadn’t gotten his high school diploma, while he expertly sewing a suit he was charged with fixing. Surprisingly, he had customers who didn’t live in Gravity Falls who had come from other parts of the country before and somehow learnt he was now living in Pennsylvania and had called their friends and relatives. He was a GOOD tailor after all, and back in town people travelled to get a dress or suit tailored just for them …  
  
“I won’t forget, I want to take that stupid exam once and for all…” With all these years he had been self-teaching himself science and physics, it would be too stupid if he didn’t pass the test. And this time, he wasn’t going to miss it. Wanda would drive him there HERSELF if they needed it.  
  
But for now, they had to get Wanda to a hospital for a check up. With her busy work schedule, it was another couple weeks before they finally had that chance. And in that time, Wanda’s stomach had grown even more. Still no sign of her period as well.  “I have a tumor.” She said faintly. That was the only explanation.  
  
“You don’t have a tumor.” Seb reassured as they waited for the doctor to call them. The year of 2013 had started and the hospital was full of people waiting for their turn as well.  “It will be fine.”  
  
“What if I die?” “We die together, no big deal.” Seb shrugged. He jumped when Wanda suddenly shouted at him. “NO! YOU CAN’T DIE!!” She screamed before she started crying. Seb awkwardly patted her back. God, he didn’t know what to do with these extreme mood swings...  
  
They were finally called in and…  
  
“You’re pregnant.” The doctor said plainly. He received the sobbing woman into his office and could tell she was pregnant WITHOUT the ecography. Seriously, how didn’t they even SUSPECT a pregnancy? “More than that, you’re several months along… I’m guessing five, but I wouldn’t know for sure without more tests.”  
  
“THEN DO IT!”  
  
They got the test. Wanda laid down as he put the gel along her stomach and the doctor showed them the images from inside her belly. There were two clearly humanoid shapes. “Ah. Three months, with twins no less. No wonder your stomach looked much bigger than normal for how far along you are.”  
  
Seb’s eye twitched, staring in disbelief at the confusing black and white screen. His brain disconnected and he was staring blankly. Elevator music could be emptily playing in his head right now. Wanda’s eyes widened to the size of plates. “THREE!?! TWINS??! Nope, nope! It’s impossible!!” She shrieked. “T-those can’t be real!”  
  
“They are, ma’am, I’m sorry...though...it’s kinda weird how you two didn’t notice? They’re twins, and the baby bump is noticeable way before single pregnancies.” The doctor shrugged. That’s why he’d thought she was at least 5 months along, with how big she already was.  
  
Seb finally came back and shakily looked at the doctor. “.......We were protected...couldn’t have happened…” He said faintly. Nope. This really couldn’t be FUCKING happening...He couldn’t be a father, didn’t those fetuses know what they were signing UP TO?!  
  
Wanda was crying loudly, much to the doctor’s short patience. “I-I have a IUD!!”  
  
“No, ma’am, I'm sorry, but you don’t have anything…” The doctor said sympathetically. Wanda couldn’t understand.  
  
“But I just had a new one put in--” Wait. Wanda paused and then she shrieked with rage. “That BITCH! She didn’t put it in!” She looked at Seb, her green eyes on fire. “I told her I was going to see you again and that STUPID BITCH didn’t put me on my stupid birth control so I could get pregnant!!” She remember clearly how her gynecologist had told her to just get kids already, always telling Wanda that she was getting older and she should have kids now before it was too late and she wasn’t fertile anymore but FUCK what the FUCK?!  
  
Seb stared at the screen once again, gulping a heavy lump at the small figures, he didn’t want to see anything, but there they were, mocking him and moving… “You’re pregnant…” He fell back to the chair, hands aching to burn into nervous flames. Wanda punched the bed she was laying in. “I’m going to SUE the FUCK out of her!!!”  
  
The poor doctor just tried not to get their attention.  
  
\----  
  
They went back home quietly, not talking to each other at all. He parked and Wanda immediately went to her laptop to start filling some papers to sue her former gynecologist. Seb didn’t know what to do.  
  
What had he done?! He had COMPLETELY fucked up! The first thing he wanted to avoid! And it fucking happened! “I shouldn’t have children...I’m a monster…”  
  
Seb’s eye widened a bit. He was a demon. He used to be-was, whatever the fuck it was. But he WAS something, that shouldn’t have kids. They were going to be born all weird like him, they were going to be like ‘Him’ and he didn’t wish anything like that on ANYONE, even less kids that were...his own...  
  
“Wanda…” His eye welled up with tears and flames surrounded his arms as he held back sobs. He took a finger to his mouth to bite and draw blood. And Wanda was pregnant, because of HIM, HOLY SHIT, and she was going to leave him because she didn’t know who he was, because their kids were going to be like him.  
  
No, no, no, no! Help, help, make this be a dream! Please! He didn’t want to be a dad, he couldn’t, he... didn’t deserve it...  
  
He opened his eye, panting, and looked down at his aching wrists and his nails dug into his old wounds. Fuck, seriously? He-He didn’t mean to do that...He rubbed his wrists awkwardly and quickly went to the kitchen to clean his blood with some paper towels. He wrapped it around his wrists and lowered his sleeves (thanks Ax for long sleeved shirts), and went to search for Wanda. Maybe...it didn’t have to be that bad…? He-He loved his niblings and-and his brothers were so happy with their kids…  
  
But they weren’t demons before, they were normal, not him, he used to be a monster. A monster having kids…? He was horrible...he didn’t deserve little kids of his own,  but, he...he would love them, even if he was a demon...Because whether they wanted it or not, the little bastards were coming.  
  
“A-ah Wanda…” He entered to their bedroom, watching her furiously type down. “Are you ok?”  
  
“Yes. I’m fine.” She didn’t look up. “Ah..Wha-what are we going to do…?” He tried not to sound as scared as he felt.  
  
Wanda’s shoulders tensed up and slowly looked up at him, her eyes puffy and red. “After making this bitch lose her job? I-I don’t know…” She choked down a sob. She had a hand on her belly, rubbing it and shivering. “My career would be ruined! I don’t have the time to raise kids while working! I… I can’t… you know how important my job is to me. I won’t be able to do both!” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I love you so much Seb, but I didn’t want to get pregnant. It’ll take AGES for me to get back to my job if I have to take a maternity leave and raise the kids! Fuck! We fucked up!”  
  
Seb held back a sob. “I-i-it’s all my fault!” He wailed. At that, Wanda looked up to scowl at him. “Yeah, sure, but it’s MY fault too. We BOTH had a hand in this.” Wanda sighed. “It’s your fault for being so handsome, and it’s my fault for being so horny…” She couldn’t help but laugh a little hysterically. “Damn your wonderful dick for feeling so good.”  
  
As stressed as he was, Seb managed to flush and wiggle. “WAAAAANDAAAAA!!!” He whined loud  in embarrassment.  
  
Wanda chuckled humourlessly and awkwardly rubbed her belly again. “And now look at this… the doctor said this was just 3 months!” She sniffled. “How big am I going to get?! He thought I was five months along! I’m only 3 months! Oh my god I can’t believe this…” She was already having trouble fitting into her pants. “I don’t wanna be faatt!” She burst into tears once again. This was really too much for her. It was getting overwhelming.  
  
“No, no please don’t cry! Please, i’m sorry, I’m sorry!” The vague little excitement of having kids of his own was vanished when he saw his girlfriend cry. He didn’t meant to hurt her like this! And he was still so worried about all this! His powers! His past!  
  
“Wanda, Wanda, I’m sorry!” He didn’t want to do something wrong, he didn’t want to hurt his kids with his powers or with his very existence! “I have to tell you something, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I shoulda told you before, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!!!” Seb was crying even more than Wanda now. Wanda frowned and looked over at him. “W-what is it?” In her head was a mantra of ‘Please don’t say you have a disease, please don’t say you have a disease…’ while Seb sniffled and bit his finger. “If I tell you… p-please don’t leave me…”  
  
“Seb. I’m pregnant with TWO of your kids, there’s no fucking way you’re getting rid of me.” Wanda managed to scoff. Seb didn’t seem to feel any better, still crying. “Please tell me you won’t be angry… a-and that you won’t be scare of m-me…”  
  
“I’m not going to be scared, you’re my boyfriend, stupid.” She said solemnly. “And I love you, we are in this situation because I love you, but please TELL me, the suspense is gonna kill me.” She REALLY needed to know now. Seb took a deep breath, wiped his tears with his sleeve, before lifting a hand and making Wanda’s laptop float towards the bed. Wanda’s green eyes widened and her mouth opened wide in shock. And then Seb snapped his fingers and some fire sprouted from his hand and along his arms, which he quickly waved away.  
  
“Wha-What!? Sebastian, holy fuck! What!?”  
  
The explanation was long, and Seb had to stop many times to blow his nose. Wanda listened carefully, trying to understand everything about...lines and shapes and tridimensional gods... And yellow triangles with bowties and top hats going to prison and gaining powers and angry Axolotls. She remembered the weird triangle man...thing from her dreams, that creepy demon thing, and well… the dreams that she and Seb had shared even when they were miles and miles apart… but she hadn’t expected THIS.  
  
She sat in quiet shock, processing everything. At some point during Sebastian’s long story, they’d ordered a pizza, her cravings demanding anchovy and olives with sausages. So now Wanda took a bite of the pizza as she continued to stare forward. Finally she closed her eyes and breathed in. “Ok. So you’re some kind of… alien demon thing? Or, you were, in your past life but you are also kinda a magical creature despite being human??” She looked down at her belly. “Are the kids going to be aliens too?” She asked faintly. “Will...they come out of my stomach clawing out…?”  
  
Seb wiped the tears that were still streaming down and frowned, slightly offended. “No-No...I-I’m human, fully human…I-I think...they will be born...like...babies...do? I’m not an alien...and I’m not him...” He drew his knees to his chest. “It’s pretty confusing for me, Wanda...I-I think I know who I am, because my name is Sebastian, because I’m human, because I have a family, but I find myself...doubting it, and thinking that, maybe, I’m still him, pretending to be someone else.” His hand lingered over his wrists, not daring to touch them with Wanda near.  
  
“But I do know I’m human…I’m sure of that, and-and whatever I am...inside, doesn’t matter...does it?” Because he had seen how his family loved him for him, they didn’t care if he WAS a Bill, he was still loved, as crazy and damaged as he was. Because Wanda still liked him, even if he got her pregnant and possibly ruined her career...  
  
Wanda frowned a bit and stroked his cheek softly. “No, of course not. I didn’t mean to call you that…I don’t think you’re a monster…” She sat closer to him and pulled him close for a kiss. “You are Sebastian Pines, the cute idiot whom I fell in love with…And-And my boyfriend...and the best man I’ve known...please don’t cry~” She kissed his wet cheek. Seb sniffled.  
  
“You don’t want them, don’t you…?” Seb sniffled loudly. Wanda put her hand on her belly. It was too late to think of something like that...If she had only known she wasn’t protected AT ALL, she wouldn’t be worrying now.  
  
“I do want them…” She placed her hand on his. “They’re our babies…” She slowly pulled out the little printed ecography the nurse offered them when they were leaving, and she grabbed it angrily. “It’s just…” She sighed, resigning herself. “This is just going to change everything, Seb but...I...I guess I’ll stay at home forever and...take care of them...and just be at home...” She thought it was admirable how some women became mothers and dedicated all their time to their kids, but she couldn’t JUST do that, she needed to work or she was going to go insane! But if she was going to have these kids… she was going to have to leave her job, stay home and care for them...  
  
She sniffled again and sobbed, hugging her paper towel. And now she didn’t have pizza...That made her cry even more. God, she was mess.  
  
“W-what? Stay home- but don’t you have work?” Seb asked, very confused by what Wanda was saying. His girlfriend sobbed harder. “But I can’t take care of the babies while I’m at work! I’ll have to stay here!” Sebastian growled. “No. You don’t have to leave your job! I’ll take care of the kids! I d-don’t even have a job that needs me to be out and about, I can stay home and take care of them… and still do my work! You don’t have to leave your job because of me and the kids!”  
  
Wanda wiped her tears with her arm. “Weally? But-But...I would be giving you all the work...and-and...isn’t the-the mom supposed to take care of babies?”  
  
“It’s not, really. I want to do it...Taking care of the twins was heart attack inducing but...fun, I like it, and you love your job, and you are so amazing at it, and I want you to continue doing it...When you get home, you’ll see them and it will be ok and you will be the best mom ever!” Seb smiled, looking at the photo she was holding. His excitement was coming back. Wanda didn’t care about her powers, she wasn’t scared of him, and whatever happened, they were going to be together to face it.  
  
And he was having twins! Hah! In Stan’s face! He only got one! What a loser!  
  
That seemed to make Wanda feel better. The two cuddled on the couch for the rest of the day, chatting about whether they thought the babies would be boys or girls, what names they should give them, how Wanda could open a face chat on her computer at work to check on him and the kids once they were born and she was recovered enough to go back to work…  
  
It… didn’t seem as scary anymore, knowing that Seb was going to be taking care of the kids. Wanda was terrible with kids, but Sebastian had his niece and nephews and he was great with her cousins back when they were teenagers. Wanda leaned against Seb’s chest as one of his hands stroked her round stomach. “You’re going to be a wonderful mother Wands!” Sebastian assured her. Wanda laughed. “And you’re going to be the best father…”  
  
\---.---  
  
So, of course they couldn’t keep it a secret, they had to tell their parents... They visited Wanda’s parents a nice winter day where Wanda’s stepbrother and girlfriend were coincidentally visiting too, (you could guess Linda judged those girls hard, none good enough for her son, Seb had set the bar too high)  and spilled the beans, straight to the point.  
  
“Mom, Dad, I’m pregnant…”  
  
Wanda had to facepalm when her parents cheered and immedietly turned to Seb with a “YES! Good job, son!”  
  
“Seriously?” Wanda complained. “I’m literally the one with two babies inside me right now??” And frankly, SHE had done most of the work! Seb was still rather shy during their... bedroom activities. She ended up doing most of the work everytime, not that she didn’t LOVE doing so, but STILL!  
  
“WHAT?!” Elijah gasped. “TWINS?!” Wanda’s brother gaped as Linda screamed her heart out. “OH MY GOD, THANK YOU!”  Linda cried to the skies before hugging Seb tightly, stroking his bicolor curly hair. Seb looked mortified and tried to bury his face in his hands when Elijah slapped him on the back and said, “Very impressive, son!”  
  
Wanda crossed her arms, slightly annoyed, when her mom tutted. “My dear, HOW couldn’t you have realized you were pregnant?! It’s maternal instincts! Every woman has it!!”  
  
“Yeah, well, I was SUPPOSED to be on birth control…” Wanda muttered. Linda shook her head. “Well, I expect you to be at home resting from now on! You have to take care of the little babies you are having!” Wanda rolled her eyes. Staying? To go insane all cooped up? No thanks. But she nodded anyway to please her mom. She was going to continue going to work until she had to give birth, no way was she going to just sit and do nothing for months.  
  
Telling Seb’s family was...different. They went to visit Stan and Kari to tell them the happy news. Kari totally ignored Seb to coo and pamper Wanda. “Oh my God!! Really?! My sweet daughter!! Come here! I love you!!” Seb complained he was part of it too, but his mom shushed him and asked Wanda for permission to touch her belly. The younger woman froze, but agreed. It really made her mother in law, happy.  
  
Stan gaped for a second, looking in disbelief, before he shouted. “HAHAH!! FORD OWES ME 50 BUCKS!” He high-fived Carla.  Dillon was really excited at the idea of getting a new cousin from his favorite uncle and congratulated both of them before writing Mabel and Dipper about the news. It didn’t take long before Shermie called, laughing at his older brother uproariously while Mabel was sobbing with joy at the idea of getting more cousins. She needed to start knitting NOW! Uncle Seb knew how to knit but all the knitted stuff had to come from her! Mabel! Dipper could be heard running around. “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Uncle Seb’s having kids! Poor kids!”  
  
“Hey! Pinetree, I’ll let you know you survived your summer because of ME!” Seb shouted at the phone.  
  
Shermie wheezed. “WELCOME TO HELL! YOU’LL NEVER SLEEP AGAIN! You’ll be enslaved to two ungrateful brats for 18 years!”  
  
“DAD!” “RUDE!” “NOW YOU HAVE TO BUY US ICE CREAM AS AN APOLOGY!” “And take us to see Uncle Seb and Aunt Wanda to meet their babies!” Shermie sighed. “You see what I mean? But I’m so happy for you two!”  
  
Wanda and Seb looked at each other. Getting scared like that didn’t help at all with their situation.  
  
Seb finally called Ford and Soos, who somehow didn’t get the news. Everyone in town somehow knew (Mabel. That had been definitely Mabel) Soos and Melody got pretty excited for him and Soos declared himself the babies’ coolest dude uncle (? Soos was so mysterious sometimes) and then Seb talked to his oldest brother.  
  
Ford was actually talking from inside the center, it was his time to supervise, Fiddles would do it some other days, but right now, Fiddleford was spending some much needed time with his son, and Ford respected that. With a construction helmet on, he held his phone to his ear as he watched the tiles, windows and services like plumbing and electricity being installed. Just a few more months and and his dream was coming true~  
  
“Sixer, guess what?!” Seb screamed excitedly. Wanda had gone back to work and he was imagining her co-workers screaming and cooing at her. Wanda had said many people had asked her when she was settling down and having kids, and were glad she was FINALLY doing what EVERY woman must do...It was pretty dumb. Seb had to wince in sympathy. No one had really urged him about getting a girlfriend, except for Mabel, of course. Wanda was mainly angry that everyone expected her to just… have kids and leave work, like that was NORMAL, but she wasn’t going to do that. She worked HARD to earn her law degree and become a lawyer and babies or no, she was going to continue being a lawyer!  
  
“What is it, Sebastian?” Ford asked, waving a hand to direct the builders to where the bathrooms should be built. He could hear Seb squealing on the other end of the phone. “I’m gonna be a father!!!” That made Ford nearly drop his phone. WHAT?! “You- great, now I owe Stan $50!” He complained.  
  
Seb waited for the praise, but he could only hear noises on the other side. “Um! Eh hem!! I said I’m going to have kiidddsss!!!” He repeated louder. Ford nodded. “Yes, I heard, congratulations, I’m glad you feel prepared now.” The last time he talked to Seb about this, he was really scared of the idea (he would be too, holy shit! He liked being an uncle much better!!), it was nice to hear him happy.  
  
“They’re twins! We don’t know their sex yet, but we don’t want stuff to be color coded, ya know? Cuz that’s just stupid. So send whatever presents you want!”  
  
“I have to send presents?” Ford scratched his head, pretty confused. “Duuhhh!” Was his brother’s intelligent reply. “You get presents for the future babies! Mabel says she'll plan a baby shower, if you don’t know, that’s when you get together and receive all the presents and have fun before the baby arrives! And-And then, you say thank you to everyone who came and play music and it is just...nice…” The idea of a party was very thrilling, even if it was for the babies, and with each passing day, both him and Wanda were getting excited with babies’ arrival.  
  
He. Was. Going. To. Be a. Fucking. DAD!!!!  
  
The scientist chuckled when he heard Seb squee again. "Alright then. I shall go see what presents I can get. Any prompts?" He asked. Seb giggled hysterically. "Baby clothes! And toys! And… and tiny baby shoes!" Seb had gotten obsessed with looking at tiny baby booties. They were too cute!  
  
Ford's smile slowly faded. "Sebastian, will your children inherit your powers?" Was that even possible? How would such a thing happen? How did Sebastian even have his powers at all if Bill Cipher was dead? And how did he get them originally even when he was born human?  
  
Seb hummed with a pout. “I mean, I...considered it...But, if you think about it...they-they really SHOULDN’T! Because...I wasn’t BORN with my powers…” But, on the other hand, he had a seal, if he hadn’t...he could have been born with all his powers…  
  
“Ford, I’m scared. What if they HAVE my powers! Do you know how long it took me to learn to control them?! What if they do something?! What if they hurt Wanda or themselves??!!!” Seb was hyperventilating.  
  
Ford sighed. "Well, if they DO have your powers, your job as a parent is to make sure they learn to control them. And…" he grimaced. Accidentally hurting themselves or those around then would always be a fear. "Well, I can make a unicorn barrier to shut off their powers? Or does that not work?"  
  
“Dude, I could cross the barrier just fine! I’m human! One that just happen to have really dangerous abilities that will be passed on to two KIDS! WHO WILL BE LIKE ME!!” Seb shrieked.  
  
"I don't mean a barrier around your house, I meant like a bracelet that seals off magic. There must be something like that? I will have to check my notes." Ford could be heard shuffling around on his side of the phone. His blue journal from William was still intact. Ford couldn't help a small wave of fondness and warmth at the thought of the nice Bill Cipher he and Stan met. Well...second nice Bill Cipher. Sebastian was a nice one too, in a second life, sure, but he was a good person.  
  
Ford’s blue journal had survived the 13 years behind the portal and it even survived Weirdmageddon and the evil Bill's attempts to destroy it. And the best part? The evil Bill couldn't see inside this journal. Ford flipped through the journal and tried to see if he had written anything down about sealing magic.  
  
While Ford daydreamt, Seb was breathing heavily, trying to calm himself a bit. “O-Ok, yes, I-think bracelets could work...Please try. I don’t want them to hurt themselves...or anyone.” He had been hiding his powers for years until he knew it was safe to use them in town, but they were really far away from any source of weirdness, it was dangerous for them to show any supernatural ability.  
  
The government might have forgotten about them, but two kids on fire were surely going to draw attention. He already fucked up their lives and they haven’t even existed for more than 4 months…  
  
“Seb?” Ford called softly after the blond went quiet. “Y-Yeah?” “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but...don’t listen to your head…” The scientist instructed him. He bit his lip. “You’re a great uncle, and I'm sure you’re going to be great father...with a demon past or not.”  
  
Seb wasn’t sure about that...He wanted to believe everything would be fine, that he’d be happy and his family would be happy forever...But he couldn’t believe it, despite how hard he tried. He literally couldn't picture himself doing something WELL, because how could he?! He was dumb, and careless, and a freak and monster that always fucked things up...  
  
“Thanks, Sixer…” He finally said, instead of all the messy feelings and words he really wanted to let out.  
  
\---.---  
  
“Waaah!” Wanda moaned as she kicked the door close. Oof! Today was a CRAZY day! She threw her things to the couch and called “Seb, we’re back!”. She just couldn’t say ‘I’ anymore, could she? Not with these little guys pushing her stomach out like a balloon.  
  
“In the storage room!” The storage room was a room Wanda had kept full of junk and boxes. She always worked in her room or the living room so she didn’t have a real use for the extra room. When Seb moved here, he asked if he could use the room for his work, used to having an office just like it back in the Shack. His equipment had been shipped from Gravity Falls, so good for Ford! Now they had another free room in the Shack to use!  
  
The blonde put a hand over her growing belly. “Let’s go see dad, shall we?” She whispered. It was still pretty weird to talk to...her babies. Wow. She was going to be a mom, holy shit. She never, ever would have thought she would be one. Seb was in the storage room, shaking hands with a man. “Um, hi...” The lawyer waved at the unfamiliar man.  
  
“Wanda!” Seb smiled and walked over to her to plant a soft kiss on her lips. “This is Francis, I’m making a suit for him, he has a friend’s wedding, right?” He looked at his customer and didn’t really wait for a response. “This is Wanda! She’s my girlfriend!” The man politely smiled, shook hands with Wanda and bid his farewells. “See you next week.” The man said before leaving.  
  
“Urgh! Finally someone asked me to make a suit! People just want dresses!” The man complained as Wanda rolled her eyes. “Who wouldn’t want a dress from you~? It’s your fault for making them so pretty!”  
  
Seb laughed sheepishly. “Haha, yeah…” He crouched and awkwardly in front of Wanda’s belly, as if fearing to touch it, (which he was), he put his hand over his girlfriend’s swollen and growing belly. “Hii~ You went to work with moomm~ Was it boring? I bet it was boring~” Seb slowly put his ear on her stomach and with a frown, he nodded slowly. “Uh huh...ok, I get it…” He looked up at Wanda, who was staring at him, funnily. “The babies say your work is boring and should give me a kiss~”  
  
Wanda laughed loudly. “They said that now did they~?” She leaned down to plant a kiss on Sebastian’s forehead, the couple giggling together. A kiss turned into a hug, which turned into some gentle caressing and the two ended up on the couch in the living room, kissing and feeling each other up passionately. Wanda broke away from Seb’s lips and gasped for air. “Damn, no wonder we’re having kids. We just can’t keep our hands off each other!”  
  
Seb laughed. “W-well…” His shirt was rumpled, the first few buttons undone and his chest exposed. Wanda took this time to admire his pecs. “A-ah…” Seb blushed when Wanda began slowly walking her fingers down his chest with a mischievous look, clearly aiming to unbutton more of his shirt. As fun as that would be, Seb was a little afraid to go any farther with Wanda while she was carrying such precious life inside her (he might mess up and hurt her, hurt them! He was clumsy and stupid and so, so much of a walking disaster--) so he straightened up with a cough.  
  
“So, how was work?” He changed the subject, taking Wanda’s hands in his own as he moved to sit beside her instead of bent over her. Wanda frowned a little at the fact that Seb wanted to stop but sighed and rubbed her belly. “Well, my friends at work showered me in gifts. And my male co-workers kept calling you a lucky bastard for actually “landing” me… I think they’re just upset that I turned all of them down multiple times and then went and started dating you out of nowhere...” She rolled her eyes at that. But maybe now that she was dating someone AND pregnant with that someone’s children, her male co-workers would stop hitting on her. She paused when she saw Seb’s expression shift. “Does it bother you that the guys at work liked me?”  
  
“N-no that’s not it.” Sebastian assured her. He rubbed his face. “It’s nice that you have friends. If I had friends, I’m sure they’d get me some gifts too.” His brothers were family and didn’t count as ‘friends’. Soos was his friend but Soos was like a younger brother or cousin, he was FAMILY too. Did he have anyone else? Susan? Nah, she just had a crush on him. Glasses wasn’t HIS friend, he was FORD’S friend. The only “friends” he could think were the Henchmaniacs and the poor bastards were rotting back in his old Nightmare Realm… Haha….yeah…he didn’t have what one would call...a friend.  
  
Wanda tilted her head to see more of Seb’s expression behind his hand. “I’m sure you’ve got plenty of friends, Seb.” He shook his head. “You surely do! You’re the sweetest guy I know!” She blinked as she suddenly realized. “What about Alex and Johnny?” Seb lifted his face from his hand. A-Alex and… whoa, Sebastian hadn’t thought about those two crazy maniacs in YEARS! Decades! Wanda groaned. “Oh my gosh, I should have told them you were alive! I totally forgot…”  
  
“You, you still talk to them?” Seb asked surprised. Besides those few times Wanda visited when they were teens, Alex and Johnny hadn’t really spent much time with her. The blonde shrugged. “Well, after scaring us to death-” “I’m sorry-” “We kinda, like, got super close, you know Alex was gonna be a lawyer, and he’s a DAMN good one! Kinda crazy at court, he likes to be dramatic, many judges can’t stand him, but he’s cool. You know, remember how...uh, they were dating?”  
  
Seb nodded. “Don’t tell me they broke up!” He exclaimed with a loud gasp. Wanda nodded. “For YEARS. Like, I’m not sure what happened actually, but they broke up, Alex met a girl, they had a son but soon broke up too, they’re cool though, and he’s a GREAT dad. He looked for Johnny once again because they’re soulmates and can’t live without each other~” Wanda squeezed his hand with a smile. “They’re together again and living in New York. Do you want to call them?!” She asked excitedly.  
  
Seb nodded slowly. Wow...After all these years… Wanda mentioned that she should have called them. They were still worried about him and wanting news from him? Even after the problems he caused them? That...he didn’t expect that...even less to see his old... friends after so long… “I-I’d like that…”  
  
Wanda smirked and pulled up her phone to call the couple. She put it on hands free mode and waited for Alex to pick up.  
  
“WHAT?! I’M BUSY!” An annoyed voice called from the other side.  
  
“Hey! That’s no way to treat a friend~Bad Alex!” Wanda huffed. Alex stopped mid insult and gasped. “Wanda!” He let out a surprised sound. “I haven’t heard from you in months! How’ve you been?”  
  
“Oh, not much, doing well in my job, getting clients, got pregnant…” Wanda said nonchalantly.  
  
“You always do you jo-Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait. PREGNANT?!” Alex choked. “JONATHAN!!!” He screamed, making Wanda and Seb laugh.  
  
Johnny came running into the room Alex was in. “What is it?! What happened?!”  
  
“WANDA IS PREGNANT!”  
  
“WHAT?! That’s impossible! She would never!! That would never happen!” Johnny screamed in utter disbelief. Wanda looked at Seb and huffed. “Whatcha mean that would never happen?” She complained quietly. The two men took a deep breath to calm themselves. “Well...you’re you…” “Though you ARE a pervert so in retrospective it’s not that unexpected…” Alex hummed in thought.  
  
“HOLY SHIT YOU’RE PREGNANT!” Johnny screamed again, but he sounded more excited this time. “Oh my gosh! Congrats! Who’s the father?! Do we know him?!” Johnny asked. “Or you don’t? Or you DO and you need us to cut some irresponsible balls off?” Alex added. Seb smiled. Alex and Johnny really cared for Wanda, he was so glad for that.  
  
“If you want to meet him, you’d have to visit me~” Wanda teased. “Evil woman, but fair.” Alex nodded. “We’ll be there next weekend!” The two sounded SO excited about it.  
  
Seb leaned in and whispered to Wanda, giggling like a little kid. “Tell them I want to see them already!”  
  
“Well, mysterious boyfriend says he is looking forward to seeing you, guys!” Wanda smiled and Alex and Johnny gasped. “Really?! Well, we want to meet him too! We must judge him and approve of him!” Alex exclaimed and Johnny scoffed. “She already got herself knocked up, so instead we will FORCE him to be good and acceptable.”  
  
“Aaaww!! Thank you, guys! Don’t worry, he’s the best...Well, we have to eat dinner! See ya!” Wanda exclaimed. The couple on the other side said their farewells as well. Before Wanda could hang up though, they heard Alex and Johnny talking to themselves. “You know, I never thought she would get over him…” Johnny said sadly. “Yeah, me neither, but at least she found someone she loves, no? Even if it’s not Sebastian.” “I’m glad she finally let g-Alex, the phone!”  
  
Then they hung up.  
  
Seb blinked before looking at Wanda who was pouting. Dummies. They should know by now that she wasn’t going to give up waiting for Seb to return...And he DID! So TAKE THAT!  
  
“Why didn’t you marry and move on with your life with someone else?” Seb asked the green eyed woman, softly. “It’s not like you didn’t have options...you said many guys at work like you…”  
  
Wanda sighed. She reached up to place her hands on Sebastian's cheeks. "Because I already had my heart set on someone." She gazed into his eye. "And I refused to believe in a world where you were gone. I love you, Sebastian Pines, and even if I had to wait 20 years, it would all have been worth it to be with you again."  
  
Sebastian's eye went wide even as he started tearing up. "B-but what's even so great about me? Why do you love me?" He just couldn't understand. Wanda was beautiful and smart and popular and she could have any guy she wanted, but she wanted him. A broken, mess of a person. Why?  
  
"Because I care about you. You… you've been through so much, and you have every right to be angry and bitter at the world, but you aren't. You're sweet and kind and you keep wanting to do good for people." Wanda hugged him. "You're also way too handsome for your own good." She joked before sobering. "I did try seeing other men, but it never felt right. I was never as comfortable around them as I was with you."  
  
The couple held each other as Seb tried to process this. Somehow, Wanda just… liked him enough to wait for him. He still couldn't understand. But he was so happy she was here, that she had waited for him.  
  
"I also tried to get with someone else, but it never felt right either." Sebastian admitted. Wanda laughed lightly. "Oh? Was she pretty?" She jokingly asked. Seb giggled. "Oh, he was pretty handsome…"  
  
The two laughed, comfortable in each other's company and brainstorming ways to terrify their friends when they got here.  
  
\---.---  
  
“I really can’t believe our little Wanda is pregnant~” Johnny whispered to Alex excitedly. Alex grumbled as he paid the taxi driver. “I can’t believe she made us come all the way here!” He was just as excited as Johnny though. Wanda was like a sister, emotionally joined by worry and grief, they cared for each other, just like Seb would have wanted them to.  
  
“Ok, remember not to threaten her boyfriend or scare him away.” Johnny scolded his boyfriend. “Like you did to Elize’s first boyfriend…” “Dude, don’t you remember how he treated my baby boy? I wasn’t going to let that bastard get away with that! And now we both have great men~” Alex wrapped an arm around Johnny and pressed the doorbell.  
  
Wanda and Seb were watching a movie, eating some snacks (Wanda ate all of them, actually) and she gasped softly. “They’re here! Dammit!” She looked at her clothes, or lack of a certain support garment. “Seb! Open the door! Gotta change~ Go! Just bother them a bit!” She pushed the man and he stumbled towards the door. “But-but-”  
  
The blonde was gone before Seb could finish his protest so he just sighed and walked towards the door, but not before grabbing the blanket they’d been using and wrapping it around his head to partially cover his eyepatch. Didn't want to give the game away too quickly.  
  
Seb flung the door open dramatically. “Hello! Fellow humans! Human fellows! It is I! Your female friend’s mating partner.” He made his voice a bit deeper too. Alex and Johnny stared. "Um…"  
  
Seb did a little dance, making jazz-hand motions. "Let us all partake in human activities such as eating more food than our body has room for and complaining about stuff!" He moved aside to let them in. The two men entered, really confused. Johnny couldn’t help but notice the house was clean, for once.  
  
“Uh...Are you Wanda’s boyfriend…?” Alex asked, really confused. Seriously? This man was...crazy, and weird. What happened to Friedmann’s standards?  
  
“Ah yes, of course, for what other motive would I be here, living in the same household, how you say, breathing the same air and introducing myself to you, the dear friends she is presenting our offspring to!”  
  
“Are-Are you a robot?” Alex asked faintly and Seb let out a deep voiced “Ah ha hah! You have a great sense of humor. I was told that is a good trait humans can have!” He was purposely making his voice sound as similar as Ford’s, trying to imagine the nerd saying such silly things.  
  
“Do your bodies need to hydrate? Can I offer you a drink?” Seb asked with a big smile. “Nah, I wouldn’t want you short circuiting, mate.” Alex said. “What’s with the blanket anywhere? Hiding something?” Johnny asked. “And where’s Wanda?” The man’s creepy smile was actually making him really nervous. He hugged Alex’s arm and pursed his lips.  
  
“She is dressing herself! Because humans get really upset by women showing skin for some reason.” Seb said cheerfully. Johnny stared. “You say that like you aren’t human…” He shuffled a little farther away from Seb in worry. Seb’s grin widened even more. “Would you like some refreshment?”  
  
“Um...No...We...just want to see if Wanda is o-”  
  
“Oh! Hi guys! You already met my baby!” Alex and Johnny turned to look at Wanda in relief. Saved!! “I’m so glad you are getting along~” Wanda walked towards them, slowly, because walking around carrying two kids was hard, even if they were still relatively small, and took Seb’s arm. “Isn’t he amazing~!” The two blinked slowly. “Y-yeah… he’s… nice…” Alex tried to be polite. The fact that Wanda’s boyfriend hadn’t blinked this whole time was starting to get him really uncomfortable.  
  
Wanda glanced over at Seb and laughed. “Oh darling, I think you’ve teased them enough by now.” She pulled off the blanket and held his face in her hands. “Bless these gay dudes with your handsomeness~” Seb laughed loudly, a normal laugh this time with his normal voice. “Ok, ok, but I like making people weirded out!”  
  
Now that he didn’t have the blanket on his face, Alex and Johnny could see that yes, he was human, he didn’t have metal on his face like suspected. He had curly brown hair, a part of it dyed blond and...he was wearing an eyepatch.  
  
They didn’t know if it was more creepy or not.  
  
“Hi guys...Um, I know you do remember me, at least I think so? Maybe not how much I looked like, though, but um, it’s me, Sebastian…?” Seb ran a hand through his hair sheepishly. Alex and Johnny blinked slowly. Ok...So, two things… Wanda seriously found a man also named Sebastian, also missing an eye...and got pregnant from this man who was willing to act like Seb...or he was...he was HIM. Their old roommate Sebastian was actually alive...  
  
Alex looked this man up and down more carefully. He was smiling, so he could see his sharp teeth/fangs, which he remembered pretty well. “S-Seb…” He reached out to poke him, to make sure he was real. Seb laughed. “Yeah, hi guys. I’m alive… and stuff…”  
  
Alex gaped as Johnny’s hands flew to his mouth. “Holy shit…” The freckled man whispered. Alex frowned and started stuttering, something really unusual for him. “B-But! Wha-How?! You-you were! But we never!! Where WERE YOU?!” He finally managed to scream. Johnny was hyperventilating in the background. How was he ALIVE! What was going on?!  
  
Seb pursed his lips a little bit. “Truthfully, I don’t… actually remember most of it. I… only came back to my senses like… a few years after I disappeared. And… ah… I was… kinda in prison… don’t remember how I got there… kinda drank myself crazy drunk and stayed drunk for a few years straight. When I got arrested, I couldn’t get any alcohol and finally came back to myself.”  
  
Alex shook his head, he wasn’t feeling sorry anymore! He was FURIOUS! “Are you kidding me, dude??!!! Don’t you know what kind of MASSIVE HEART ATTACK we all had when you disappeared?! You were stupid! You ARE stupid! And-And-” He turned to look at Wanda, who stopped giggling to look more serious. “And YOU! You were involved in all this!? You knew he was ok?!”  
  
Wanda had the decency to look guilty. “Yeah? Kinda? I only found out recently myself. Since...last summer…?” She smiled sheepishly.  
  
Alex deadpanned. “I’m outta here.” He mumbled in annoyance and walked towards the door. Wanda laughed. “Alexander~ Come on, don’t be a baby~!”  
  
Johnny finally managed to react again and exclaimed. “You two are idiots!” Before pulling Seb into a hug. Alex watched him in disbelief. “But, Jesus, I’m so glad to see you again…” He closed his eyes. Seb froze for a second before before hugging his old friend back. “Me too...I’m sorry…”  
  
Alex took a deep breath and stomped back to the group. He pulled Johnny away from Seb to get a hug too. “I’m still upset...but you’re my friend and I was worried for you...And now you’re giving me a niece or nephew so I’m happy.”  
  
“It’s actually nieces or nephews...Um, they’re twins.” Seb corrected laughing. “Holy shit...Good job...” Alex whispered. He glanced down at Wanda’s belly. “Wait, so you only met up again last summer? And you’re already--” Wanda groaned. “I know! Okay! We… were making up for lost time…” Seb was blushing heavily as his guy friends snorted and elbowed him. “You two are hilarious!” Seb blushed even more. Idiots.  
  
“Ignoring all that, can we get our hug too or…?” Wanda pouted a bit, opening her arms and staring the men down. They laughed and went to hug her too, being careful of her stomach.  
  
The four finally settled down on the couch, now that the initial shock was over, and Johnny showed them the present they bought. “It’s a giraffe, I guess they can share it?” Seb took the stuffed toy from them. “Forget the twins, this adorable shit is mine now!” Wanda allowed their friends to touch her belly and Alex’s eyes were slightly tearing up. He remembered when his son was born too. It was amazing, he was so happy for the two of them.

  
  
“So you don’t know what sex they are?” He asked and Wanda and seb shook their heads. “Nope, the doctor said to give it another month or so.” “Do you want them to be girls or boys?” Johnny asked with a funny smile. “Well, I don’t mind either...but knowing Seb, I’d prefer if they were girls.” Wanda said teasingly as she looked at Sebastian. Seb scoffed. “Well, I always thought that...I’d have a boy and a girl, like my niblings, but the twins are identical so that can’t really happen…” He pouted a bit.  
  
Wanda giggled. “Well, we’ll love them regardless of what they are.” She rubbed her belly fondly. It was still a little scary, knowing she was carrying life inside her belly, but… it also felt… kind of nice. Was this that ‘maternal’ instinct that she was supposed to gain? Sebastian was still cuddling the giraffe. “Should I name you Markimoo or Shamandra?” He asked the giraffe. Wanda rolled her eyes. “Speaking of names, what should we name the kids?”  
  
Seb looked over. “Ah…No idea…” He scratched his head. “...You’re Wanda, so Wanda junior.” Wanda stared at him, unimpressed. “And if they’re BOTH girls?” Johnny raised an eyebrow. “Well, Wanda Jr. One and Wanda Jr. Two!” Seb grinned. Alex facepalmed. “Junior is used for MALE babies!”  
  
“I don’t care! I do what I want!” Seb raised a fist. Wanda patted Alex’s shoulder. “He’s not naming them that, don’t worry.” Seb groaned a bit. Naming humans was hard! “ I guess I should go by what Pines do to name kids? You use your middle name’s initial letter…” Wanda shook her head. “But I don’t want to give them a W name! The only good one is William or Wanda and that’s it!” Wanda complained.  
  
Sebastian continue to brainstorm. “Tehatime… Francislame… Aprigail… Wallapalooza…” Wanda smacked his arm lightly. “No. We’re not naming them something like that.” Sebastian grinned. “Olivirath? Wallaby? Wisconsin?” Wait, Wanda didn’t want a ‘W’ name so… “Yamimash? Recordinator? Grendinator? Zoelidash?”  
  
“I’m sorry for your kids, Wanda.” Johnny sighed. Wanda frowned a bit. “What did you say?”  
  
“Grendinator?” Seb asked. Hey, it WAS a real name! It was Grenda’s last name!  
  
“No! The last name...Zoelidash...Zoe, that’s a cute name, I like it.” Wanda smiled. Seb stopped to think about it. “Um...yeah...you’re right…”  
  
“And what if the kids are boys?” Johnny asked. The couple shrugged. “Then… Zebra!” Seb declared. Wanda smacked his arm again. “You don’t get to name the kids!” She complained. Seb whined as the guys laughed. It was nice, the four of them being together again.  
  
The four friends ordered a pizza and hung out for the rest of the day, chatting and catching up. Alex asked Sebastian a good several hundred questions about what he’d been up to and Seb gladly answered them the best he could. He made dresses and suits now? Sure! 13 years of experience! He took care of his niblings in the summer? Sure! They went fishing and played board games...but he didn’t have to go on FULL detail...Wanda knew, he had told her everything, and she was smiling knowingly.  
  
“Well...if you’re so good now, I guess you’ll have to make us a cool suit for our wedding~” Alex poked Seb’s shoulder, making Johnny blush slightly. The blond laughed and pulled them closer for a hug. “I’d love to!”  
  
\---.---  
  
“I can’t believe she’s late for her own check up! Those are her babies!” Wanda’s mom complained impatiently. They were supposed to know the twins’ sex today, they had turned 5 months...and Wanda said she needed to do something at work first...She wasn’t exactly late, but her mom had wanted her to come with them. Linda groaned at the wait. She wanted to know her grandbabies’ sex NOW!  
  
Kari, who HAD to come to see her future grandbabies, shared a look with Elijah. She sent him a pitiful look. Oh, what a brave man...  
  
Seb patted his in law’s shoulder. Wanda was close, she just texted him that she was on her way. “Don’t worry, Linda, she’s coming already, and she wasn’t even called yet.” He smiled comfortably. Linda pinched his cheek and smiled lovingly. “You’re right, sweetheart, what would my daughter do without you?”  
  
Elijah rolled his eyes. Great. His son in law stole his wife. Barely five minutes later, Wanda appeared and waved at everyone, panting and heaving her huge belly around (at 5 months with twins, she looked more like an 8 month with one). “I’m here! Sorry! Work’s crazy! Unfinished papers and signing stuff...”  
  
Elijah smiled at his daughter and Linda shook her head in disapproval. “It’s alright, swee-” Elijah was interrupted by his wife, “Finally! I thought you didn’t care enough, Wanda…” Linda scolded. Elijah winced and patted his wife’s shoulder.  
  
Before the blond could reply, the nurse called them and said it was their turn. Wanda huffed and Seb wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Shh, it’s ok, she’s just impatient, let’s go see the kids…” He held her arm to help her walk. The babies still had a long way to go, and Wanda’s stomach was going to get even bigger. Wanda was a little afraid, she was having trouble moving around, or bending over, or breathing sometimes...  
  
Kari cooed at her son. It warmed her heart to see him so happy, and seeing him act like a gentleman and...paternal was something she never thought she would see.  
  
The doctor was the same man who told them the happy news months ago. He gave them a smile and greeted the couple’s parents. It was nice to see them happier now, he still remembered Wanda’s angry screaming and Sebastian rocking back and forth. Oh, he also knew Wanda’s former gynecologist was fired and lost her license. The power of a good angry lawyer.  
  
He motioned Wanda to lie down on the bed and  repeated the known process. After long minutes of suspense, he gave them happier news one more time. “You have two healthy girls.” He smiled.  
  
Kari screamed. “YEEEEESSSSS!!!!” Finally! More girls! She had four sons and only Mabel as a granddaughter, but now she was getting two more! YEEEEEESSSSS! “Ma!” Seb laughed as she shrieked. Linda hugged Wanda, much to her surprise. “Aaw! Baby!! I’m so happy for you two!!! I can buy them lots of cute dresses and ribbons~! Like you wore as a baby~ Remember how CUTE you dressed when you were little?”  
  
“Well, they can dress however they want...” Wanda mumbled. She personally hated those frilly dresses growing up. She would give her daughters dresses and see how they felt about it. If they wanted pants instead, she wasn’t going to make them have to go through lacey hell just for aesthetics.  
  
They told the news to the rest of their family. Mabel had screamed for hours, claiming how they were going to be best friends and they could wear her old clothes and sweaters when they were older, while Dipper and Dillon pouted. They didn’t want more crazy Mabels in their lives! Stan was simply super happy for Seb and Ford hummed when he was told, he REALLY had the suspicion Seb would have a boy and a girl… but if the twins were identical, they’d both be the same sex.  
  
“I just hope they aren’t as nerdy as you~” Seb teased. “Mom says she loves me more than all of you! How do you feel about that?” He asked with a smug tone that made Ford roll his eyes. He wasn’t going to fight…He was busy with his OWN baby, the research center was almost done and he just couldn’t wait to inaugurate it!  
  
“I’m glad mom loves you.” Ford finally said. Seb giggled excitedly. “I’m gonna make ALL the cute baby clothes for them!” He heard Wanda calling from the other room, “DON’T MAKE DRESSES!” Sebastian scoffed. ALL the dresses!!! Just to bother Wanda!  
  
\----.---  
  
They spent an entire month planning what to buy. They still had a lot of time until the twins came in July, but they already wanted to get some stuff and...feel the babies’ presence more. With Wanda’s parents, they chose a crib and some clothes. Linda wanted to buy EVERYTHING already, but for Wanda, getting everything in a rush was just pointless.  
  
That led to a bit of arguing and two awkward men standing behind and watching. Linda and Wanda argued a lot since learning the babies’ sex. Especially when it came to Wanda ‘taking a break’ and leaving work to rest. Wanda refused. Whether it was stubbornness or pride, she didn’t know, but even when walking caused her to be short of breath, or how she couldn’t actually reach her keyboard with her belly pressing against her desk, Wanda refused to let that stop her. Her belly was still growing larger. Part of her was amazed she hadn’t popped yet, a little fearful of just how much her skin could stretch.  
  
“You’re going to damage your kids!” Linda had cried. “You’re stressing yourself too much and that will affect the babies! Do you want to kill the girls!?”  
  
“N-No!” Wanda whimpered. “Then do SOMETHING about it! Why do you need to work anyway, Wanda? You’re with Sebastian already! And you are surely going to get married after the babies are born! You need to be a good mother and take care of them!”  
  
“I-I can do both! I’m not going to leave my job! I love my job and you can’t do anything about it!” Wanda snapped, tears in her eyes.  
  
Linda was on the verge of crying too. She only wanted the best for her daughter, but her views were totally different from hers. “Wanda, you are too stubborn for your own good! You’re going to hurt yourself and your daughters! You’re irresponsible! God help us with keeping my grandbabies safe from your stupidity!”  
  
“Get out of my house!! NOW!” The green- eyed woman sobbed and immediately went to hug Seb. Of course, both him and Elijah were shocked. Seb sent a slight glare at Linda before giving Elijah a pleading look. At the end, he managed to steer his crying wife to the door.  
  
Wanda sobbed his into Seb’s chest. “I-I’m not trying to kill the babies!” “I know, please don’t cry, please.” Seb felt so useless, he would carry the babies himself if he could, he didn't want to see Wanda suffering. He was sorry, he didn’t mean to hurt her or make her be in pain...  
  
“I’m sorry…”  
  
\----.----  
  
Wanda rubbed her big, tender stomach with a pout. It was getting too big already. She didn’t like it and, oh god, the stretch marks from this would be awful! She groaned. And she just… felt so fat, all the time. At the very least, Sebastian still assured her that she was just as beautiful, and always worked to pamper her when she was tired or feeling unwell. Still, Wanda had to deal with some co-workers calling her a whale, even other women. She liked to believe it was jokingly, or else she had a lot of people to hate and block from her life!  
  
Wanda commented about this to Seb one day while having dinner, just, how it sometimes hurt her when they said that...she didn’t mean to cry, but her hormones were a mess and she ended up tearing up and softly whimpering. She didn't want to worry him, but she trusted Seb with everything.  
  
But then she learned how she SHOULDN’T tell Seb everything. The next day she saw him about to beat the shit out of a man at work and she thanked God she got there in time to stop him.  
  
“He deserves it!!” Seb growled, hands aching to BURN the stupid man’s face. How DARE He??!!! “Yeah, but I need you out of prison!!” Wanda held his arm and scolded. “Just let him go!” She glared at the fearful man hiding behind a wall. “Next time I won’t stop him! Stop bothering me, Jeffrey! Go cry over your ex wife!”  
  
Seb gaped. Forget burning him. Wanda just freaking murdered him…  
  
Ah~ He was so in love, dammit...  
  
\--.---  
  
The month was half way through. Wanda was eating a box of chocolates Seb brought her. Mm~ She hadn’t eaten them in ages~! She really wanted to have names for the girls to stop calling them the babies or the twins. Make it more personal so she could feel a bit more connection with them and feel less anger at her pregnancy. They had decided on Zoe for now, but the 2nd name eluded them.  
  
“So...Stanley’s middle name is Daniel?!” Wanda snorted. What a dumb common name for someone as...unique as Stanley.  
  
“Yup, Ma likes it though.” Seb put a potato chip in his mouth. Wanda’s appetite was making him feel anxious and eat more, but not real food, only junk food! He was a disgrace. He needed to stop before he got all fat and horrible and Wanda decided he wasn’t handsome anymore and left him.  
  
“And my nephew is Dillon…Just like Sherman's middle name is MARCO , HAHAHA! Sorry, I just love to tease him about that, and his kids are Mabel and Mason.”  Wanda hummed with a nod. That made sense, it would have been nice to give the twins names related to Seb’s middle name.  
  
“So! I came up with THIS!” Seb pulled out a sheet where he drew a bunch of letters. “We can technically give the babies a name related to mine! But in Caesar Cipher! It’s a way to code your messages. So, a W in Ciphertext would be a Z! We can still use Zoe and choose another name with Z! Like Zomelina!”  
  
Wanda grabbed a piece of chocolate and stuffed it in Seb’s mouth. “I love the idea, just not that name.” Seb chewed on the delicious milky substance as Wanda rubbed her belly. “You could help us a bit here, you know? I bet you don’t want your dad naming you Zomelina…”  
  
“I bet they DO!”  
  
Wanda rolled her eyes. Zoe...What could sound remotely similar to that? Zo...lee, Zo..lly, Zully… “What about Zully?” Zoe and Zully Pines Friedmann...It...sounded nice…  
  
Seb looked at Wanda with a thoughtful look before smiling. “I like that! Um, you won’t let me name them so I’ll resign myself. I think those are perfect.” Wanda squealed and, careful with the babies Zoe and Zully, she hugged Seb, running a hand through his curly hair. He hadn’t cut it in a while, and his hair grew extremely fast, head hair and body hair wise. Oh, Pines. He had been complaining about how they should go to the hairdresser and treat themselves. She knew he just wanted to get his hair trimmed to match the rest of his carefully shaved self. She caught him complaining about his roots growing out and wondering about dying his hair blond again.  
  
It was fun...being with Seb was great. He was a great boyfriend and he did many things that people would think were more appropriate for ‘effeminate men or gay men’ even though that stereotype wasn’t accurate (she knew, Alex and Johnny were horrified at the idea of getting makeup, or nail polish, and shaving their body). If she thought about it, Seb used to be an alien demon- whatever, so things maybe didn’t work back then like they did now. Maybe that’s why he didn’t care doing “man’s stuff or woman’s stuff” and he saw the world differently than anyone else… She started to see why Seb called a body a ‘vessel’, he saw his body just like any recipient, because he’s had more bodies in the past… How crazy. Maybe he thought of human bodies...as the same? Both might feel the same for him.  
  
“I wonder who they’ll look more like...And, if they have your cool alien powers~” Wanda wondered.  
  
“They’ll look like you more, I feel it, and continue praying to your God because I have a feeling that they will probably be unfortunate enough to get my powers…” Ax save them all…  
  
Wanda laughed and placed a hand on her belly. “Will you have powers, Zoe? Zully? Do you have something to say?” Wanda suddenly gasped loudly. “WHAT? What happened!?” Seb was on his feet immediately. Wanda’s eyes were still wide. “I...I felt them move...” She whispered. Seb frowned a bit but Wanda grabbed his hand and placed it on her belly. “Girls, can you do it again…please?” Wanda felt like crying. This had been the weirdest but most exciting thing in her pregnancy so far. This was the first actual movement she had felt...  
  
Seb’s eye widened when he felt them squirm, like little worms. “Oh my gosh…” He started laughing. “They ARE aliens…” He leaned over to kiss his girlfriend. “I just want to see them already!” “I just want them to get out already!” Wanda chuckled and kissed him back. Zoe and Zully...Their daughters, they wanted to meet their daughters so bad now!  
  
There was another movement that made Wanda gasp again and brought them back to reality. “Um, jealous much?” Seb curled up next to Wanda with his head on her belly. “Don’t worry, kids, we know you’re here, you little dummies~”  
  
Outside of the house where the cute domestic scene was occurring, someone was watching. A man with dark glasses spied from a car parked on the other side. He lowered his binoculars and pulled out his phone. “Yeah, that’s him…” he told the person on the other end before nodding to his partner behind the wheel.  
  
His partner nodded back before he started the car and drove away.

  
\---------------------------

(Bonus)

(cute drawing of two cuties! :3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mizuuma: Oooh~


	3. CHAPTER 2: Bad, worse and worst! But then not so much

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some angst, some kidnapping, a scare, some good news, some introspection and finally a lack of sleep.

**CHAPTER 2: Bad, worse and worst! But then not so much**

 ---

Sebastian kissed Wanda passionately. The two were cuddling on the sofa after another long day of work. Wanda’s feet hurt so she had kicked her shoes off as soon as she got home. Seb massaged them for her earlier, and the soft, pleased moans his girlfriend let out had gotten the two of them in the mood again. So here they were, lips locked and hands roaming over every curve of the other’s body. Seb was almost hungry in his kisses, breathing in Wanda’s panting gasps and sliding his hands under her shirt to rub against her belly.

“S-Seb…” Wanda moaned into him. Sebastian kissed her harder, pressing, moaning, and losing himself to the sensations. Wanda let out a gasp, this time, in pain. “S-Seb! W-wait! Too hard!” She struggled but Sebastian didn’t hear her as he pressed his weight against her stomach, too lost in the blood pumping through him. “Seb! Ow! You’re too heavy!” Wanda cried out and Seb realized he was leaning against her belly. Seb meant to stop, he meant to pull away and apologize.

Instead, he stared in horror as his hand caught fire.

Wanda SCREAMED.

Seb tried to pull his hand away but it didn’t help. The fire engulfed Wanda, her screams rising in volume. Seb screamed as well, looking around wildly for anything he could use to put out the fire. He couldn’t find anything. He could only watch in horror as Wanda screamed and burned.

Faintly, Seb thought he could hear two other voices screaming alongside her…

“NOOOOO!!!!” Sebastian shot up in bed, shivering and crying. He gasped and looked around the dark bedroom. He turned and saw Wanda sleeping peacefully beside him. She was fine. She was safe. She wasn’t…

...wasn’t…

...she wasn’t safe. Not from HIM.

Seb got out of bed, tripping over himself as he stumbled to put himself as far away from her as he could until his back touched the wall. Wanda wasn’t safe. The babies weren’t safe. Because Sebastian was here and he was AWFUL and… dangerous and he was going to hurt them. He just KNEW he was going to hurt them all. Because he ALWAYS hurt the people he loved most. Always. A failure. A stupid idiotic MONSTER.

He sobbed and covered his head with his arms, his body shaking hard. No, no, no, he was sorry, he was so sorry, he didn't mean to! He didn’t want to hurt them!! Please! -But he was going to hurt them, because he was stupid, useless, horrible, disgusting, he could only harm others, he could only make them suffer- He was sorry, he was sorry- He couldn’t breathe, he deserved it-He deserved to suffer, _he couldn’t breathe!!_ , he was horrible, he was going to hurt Wanda, he was going to hurt his daughters!!!

He locked himself in the bathroom and threw up, his legs trembling like jelly under him. The image of Wanda screaming because of him kept coming back, on fire, hurting, in pain, his fault, he did that to her, and the thought made him empty his stomach until he was only puking bile. 

He started sobbing as quietly as he could. Wanda was sleeping, he was going to wake her up and that would make everything worse, he couldn’t even keep her sleeping peacefully, how horrible he was, why was she even with him, he should die, and hurt, like he had hurt EVERYONE!!

Wanda woke up to the noises coming from the bathroom. It took her sleepy mind a while to realize Seb wasn’t next to her and the sounds were _his_.

She slowly stood up from bed, groaning at the weight of her belly, and walked over to the bathroom. “Seb… what’re you…” She opened the door and stared in shock at the scene before her. Seb was sobbing to himself, digging his nails into his arm. She could see the deep scratches, the wounds were already bleeding. He was trying and failing to stifle his sobbing. A razor was discarded on the ground near him, looking like he had thought of using it but had thrown it away to begin clawing at himself instead.

“Seb! What’s wrong?! What happened?!” She screamed loudly, the sight of blood on him and the distinct smell of vomit was making her already sensitive stomach want to throw up too.

“I’m sorry...I’m sorry...I-I didn’t want to wake you up…I’m sorry...Please don’t get closer…” The man sobbed from his spot on the floor.

“Are you kidding me?!” Wanda cried, shaking her head furiously. “What, WHY?! Why WOULD YOU DO THIS TO YOURSELF?!” Wanda screamed, tears immediately welling up in her eyes. “How long have you been doing this?!!! TELL ME!!” She screamed, making Seb curl up on himself even more, crying even louder. Wanda was going to leave him, he fucked up, he fucked up, he fucked up-

He felt Wanda shuffle over and pat his head, since she couldn’t bend down far enough to hug him. “Seb, oh my god I have to call an ambulance…” Sebastian shook his head. “N-no! I don’t need--”

“The HELL you don’t! What on earth possessed you to do this to yourself?!” Wanda blinked away her tears. She couldn’t break down right now, not when Sebastian was clearly hurting and needed her. Her heart clenched. The last time Sebastian had broken down and did something like this was when he’d stolen his roommate’s gun and disappeared for years and years. She wasn’t going to let that happen again. Not when she finally had him BACK. “Come on, get up, I need to clean and bandage you…” He didn’t want an ambulance, the wounds weren’t THAT deep...

Seb just sobbed and shook his head. Wanda glared. “Get up, and don’t you even THINK about disappearing on me again or I will HUNT you down!” She nudged him the best she could until he finally, slowly, got up, after a loud “GET UP NOW!” Seb was sniffling and flinching away. “You’re not going to run away again… are you?” Wanda asked softly once Seb was standing. She noticed him flinch away from her, keeping his hands behind his back.

Seb didn’t reply, just kept staring down at the floor. He wasn’t wearing his eyepatch, so his empty scarred socket was visible. Wanda pushed him down on the toilet lid to sit him down and searched in a cabinet for antiseptic and gauzes. One of the twins kicked softly, as if feeling her worry. She couldn’t blame them, she bet the girls would be super worried as well.

“What happened?” Wanda asked as she placed the medical items on her belly, hey if it was gonna be there, she might as well use it as a table. She reached to tug at Seb’s arm, to try and bring it out front so she could clean it but Seb just shook his head and whimpered. “Don’t touch me!! Don’t touch me!!” Seb sobbed trying to push her away from him without the use of his arms while also remembering that he had to be careful because he didn’t want to hurt her, because he will, someday he was going to hurt her and he was just going to kill himself because he couldn't live with the thought that he hurt the woman he loved most.

Wanda frowned and stood up. She wasn’t going to fight. Seb watched her leave the bathroom and he started crying again. “I’m sorry!! Please come back!!” He curled up and screamed, hands flickering with flames he didn’t want to see. After a while, he looked up when he saw two men entering the bathroom, dressed in a light green uniform. “Dude, you’re worrying your wife, man.” The paramedic put his stuff on the floor. “She’s pregnant. You shouldn’t stress her out like that.”

“Will you let us help you? We just want to talk.” They got cases of self harm pretty often, but cases of adults doing it, especially grown up men, were a little rarer. “Get out of my house…” Seb growled menacingly. One of the paramedics held up his hands and spoke in a calm, soothing tone.  “It’s alright. We’re just here to help. You really scared your wife. She just wants to make sure you’re okay.”

“...We’re not married…” Seb mumbled, shifting to pull his legs up to his chest. “What?” One of the men blinked. He didn’t quite catch what the crying man was saying. “We’re not married, she would never marry me, I don’t deserve it, I’m just going to hurt her.”

“I’m sure that’s not the case. She clearly worries about you. She’s outside the bathroom right now, she just wants to make sure your wounds get treated.” The man continued to speak calmly. Seb looked up to see Wanda’s worried, tear stained face in the doorway behind the men. He felt like crying all over again. He made Wanda cry. He didn’t mean to… he just… couldn’t…

One of the paramedics winced when he saw Seb’s empty eye socket. At least that wound looked old. “Come on sir, please. We just want to help.”

“No! No!” He couldn’t, he would never be ok, because he was a monster and he’ll always know he was a horrible monster that hurt those he loved! He looked at the door with a blurry eye and it was slammed shut, leaving Wanda outside. He grabbed the discarded razor and passed it through his forearm with a manic grin. The men's eyes widened. “Haha, fix that…” Seb laughed bitterly. His arm was immediately bleeding hard.

Wanda growled when the door was closed. Dammit! He was using his powers! Not fair!! She heard shouting and things dropping to the floor, Seb was screaming, the paramedics were trying very hard to stay calm apparently but she winced when one shouted. “FUCK! He bit me!! Holy shit!!!”

And then...silence. None of them were shouting or cursing. Were they...ok? She was going to try to open the door once again when one of the paramedics opened it, making her jump. He was disheveled and was wrapping a bandage around his OWN arm, but otherwise he seemed ok. “We managed to clean and wrap his wounds with bandages...We had to knock him out though, he refused treatment…” Wanda gaped in disbelief as the other man came out easily carrying a limp Seb and practically flung him onto their bed.

“Miss Wanda...Does he have any...medical conditions?” Wanda shook her head. “N-No...I-I don’t understand your question…”

The man sighed. “You see...self harm is sign of some mental problems to begin with, and his behavior, you know, it didn’t feel right either...He cut himself in front of us, he _laughed_. I-I was just wondering if he’s following any treatment or therapy?”

Wanda gaped before sniffling and shaking her head. She hugged her swollen stomach. “N-No…” She didn’t know this was still happening...How could she have been so blind?! Again?! At this age?! Seb never wore short sleeves, and the scars, they didn’t look exactly old… “H-He… back when we were teenagers… I think he went through a depressive state, he was under a lot of stress and he ran away and disappeared for years. I only just found him again…”

Wanda winced. “I thought he’d gotten over it…”

“Well, um, this might just be some advice, but I think your boyfriend needs some serious therapy. Especially if you’re gonna have kids.” One of the paramedics, the one with the bandaged arm, told her. Wanda nodded. “R-right. I’m so sorry that you-” The man waved her off. “Don’t worry, I’d had to deal with panicked people before. Fight or flight kinda thing.” He shrugged. “Not even the first time I’ve been bit. Though I’m gonna go and get my arm checked out anyway, his teeth are damn sharp.”

Wanda wiped a tear from her eye and managed a small smile. “Yeah, alway have been…I-I going to make him see someone...but WE are fine, he would never hurt me.”

The paramedics sighed. “We don’t doubt it...but please speak with a specialist...because he’s sure he _will..._ Have a good night, and be careful...” The two men bid their farewells and Wanda stared at them until they left. She made her way back into bed, panting (god, these kids and their dad were going to kill her), and slowly laid down again, staring at Seb’s sleeping face. She sniffled and put her forehead against his. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” She whimpered. “I promise everything will be alright…” Wanda kissed his tear streaked cheek. This was her fault, she should have noticed. A glance at his arms showed the stark white bandages.

How long had he been hurting himself? Why hadn’t she noticed? This was just like before, where she would just go about asking Seb for things while never realizing how much he was hurting inside. Because he never told her. He never wanted to bother them with his own problems. Well, not anymore. Wanda was going to find Sebastian a therapist. She cared for him and she could help now. He was going to get better. He HAD to. Wanda wouldn’t let him try to run away again. Not this time.

She wouldn’t fail him again.

\---.---

Seb refused to talk about what happened last night, and it was pissing Wanda off. He woke up earlier than her, wearing once again a long sleeved shirt and Wanda (exhausted from her pregnancy and the scare the night before) only woke up when the delicious smell of breakfast reached her.

“I’m sorry I scared you, I’m fine!” Was the only thing he said when the blonde confronted him about it. “Now eat because you’re going to be late for work!” He didn’t ask for a kiss nor tried to give her one, he was actually avoiding touching her.

“Sebas, I am not going today, we need to talk, like, now.” This was something serious. Work could wait for now. Sebastian’s mental health was in danger! She knew what would happen if she didn’t address this now.

_(An empty apartment, a shaky note and a missing gun)_

“Talk? About what?” She didn't know if he was acting dumb or if he was actually that dumb. “Oh, by the way, if we’re talking, I’m going to make the girls some blankets, what colors should they be? I was thinking blue and green!” Seb said cheerfully. Wanda narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re getting a therapist.”

“W-what? I’m not crazy!” Seb protested. Wanda raised an eyebrow. Seb wilted. “Well, I’m crazy but… but… I don’t need--”

“Like HELL you don’t.” Wanda hissed. “You!” She poked him in the chest. “Are! Getting! A! Therapist!” Wanda sighed. “It’ll make you feel better, it’ll help you!”

“Feel better about what?! I don’t have anything to feel better for because I’m _fine_!” Seb narrowed his eye as well. “Listen, I’m sorry, I just had a bad night, that’s all! I’m fine! I’m fine! I’m fine!! I was sad before because I wasn’t with you, but now we’re together!”

“We _were_ together!” Wanda sobbed. “And then you left for 20 years! Are you seriously planning to repeat that?!”

“I won’t. I won’t. I won’t leave you, I’m not leaving you or the babies, I promise, I promise!” Seb turned off the kitchen stove. He walked towards her but stopped himself before touching her, then he hid his hands behind his back. “I swear I’m fine…” He smiled shakily. “If-If you aren’t going to work, then we can see what else we’ll need for the girls before I have classes, okay?”

And just like that, Seb had changed the topic, and went to skip around the kitchen to finish breakfast. Wanda sighed and put a hand over her belly. The words of the paramedic kept ringing in her mind. Seb needed help...and the babies were coming...What could even happen once they were born and Seb was still...She knew he would never hurt them but...It was scary, all this was really scary…

She called in sick at work that day and when Seb was gone for his classes (she was glad he was at least still determined to get his certificate. He also said he was starting a course but she couldn’t remember the name that well at the moment, she had more important things to worry about), she pulled out her phone and called. “Yes? Who’s this?” a gruff voice answered.

“Hi, Stanley, it’s Wanda...Is this a bad time?”

“Well, yeah, haha, I’m in the middle of a training, but for you dear, any time.” Wanda didn’t have the energy to roll her eyes fondly. “Stan...did you know Sebastian self-harms?” Stan sucked in a breath and groaned. “Ah… shit…” He saw some of the other guys on the team turn to look at him. “Hang on…” He left the room and found a closet to hide in, didn’t want the others overhearing this private conversation.

“Wanda, something happened, didn’t it.” It wasn’t even a question. He knew something went wrong. The blonde broke down crying once again. “Last night...He-He was in the bathroom...his arms were bleeding and I had to call the paramedics to help me treat his-his wounds…”

“Where’s my brother now?” Stan asked with a tired voice. “In-in class...He-He hasn’t really talked to me about what happened...he’s also avoiding me and he doesn’t want to touch me…” That was something that was really hurting her. She wanted to hug him, and she needed a hug, but Seb wasn’t there to provide and receive said hug.

Stan mumbled a curse under his breath, massaging his eyes. “I...I didn’t _know_ but...I had my suspicions...it-it is kinda obvious, to be honest...He’s always doing that...thing with his wrists, he rubs them when he’s upset or scared…” And Sebastian had been biting himself ever since they were children. Stan wanted to punch his brother, which probably wouldn’t help the situation at all.

“I don’t know what to do, Stanley, he doesn’t want help, he refuses to see a therapist!” Wanda sobbed. Stan ran a hand through his now short hair. Forced to cut it, goodbye cool adventurer look. “Sebastian is stubborn when he doesn’t want to listen…” Stan rolled his eyes. “He’s like Stanford, once they're set on something, only something really bad would make them change their minds.”

“Then what do I do?! The-the twins are almost 5 months, and-and Seb is...not well…” Wanda wasn’t afraid of him, she knew he would never hurt her. But if the kids ever saw his scars, or worse, saw him hurting himself… Wanda couldn’t let them go through that. “What should I do? How do I get him the help he NEEDS?” She asked. Stan sighed. “You know, I really want to put both Seb and Ford through therapy. They need it.” He leaned his back against the wall of the closet. “But they’re both idiots who refuse to **realize** they need it. Ford for whatever the heck he went through with that triangle fucker in his dreams, and Seb with...well, kinda the same thing. Except worse, since he also had our pa being a fucking asshole to him all our lives on top of being thrown out into the streets…” Damn, his triplets were fucked up. Frankly, Stan was surprised he turned out as well as he did.

Or maybe he was also fucked up but he didn’t know? Well, he didn’t matter, his brothers were depriving themselves of sleep and cutting themselves right now, dammit! “You should try insisting ‘bout therapy, Sebastian LOVES you, I’m sure he'll listen to you more than he will ever do for me or Ford, or heck, even Shermie.” Stan told her. Wanda sniffled and thought about it. Asking Sebastian didn’t seem to help. But maybe… Wanda frowned, determined. “Alright. I think there’s something I can do…” She didn’t like it, and Sebastian certainly wouldn’t like it either. But… this was for his own good…

\---

Wanda had planned to threaten to leave him if Sebastian didn’t go to therapy. It was mean, manipulative and horrible, but if that was what it would take to help him… she was willing to do it. Luckily, or unluckily, that situation never came up. Wanda could never bring herself to do it. Seb was so sweet and he was extra attentive, even if he still avoided touching her, he was now pecking her lips, but avoided touching her for more than four seconds at a time. He bought her candy and every junk food she was hungry for at the moment she voiced wanting it and he never complained. “You must eat! The babies want food! That means they’re growing up!” He declared.

Aside from that, life was getting busy, Ford’s Research Center was finally finished. Their faces were everywhere and all the news channels were reporting the event, with the two lead scientists, Sixer and Fiddleford, behind it, getting interviewed and just getting their fame skyrocketed into the stratosphere. Sebastian was so proud of his brother and he was so happy… Wanda couldn’t bring herself to do it. So she went about life as usual, going to work and coming home to Sebastian doting on her hand and foot. Wanda just didn’t know what to do. 

Seb SEEMED alright now, she had been paying attention to him more closely and he hadn’t hurt himself again, he acted like he didn’t even remember what happened. He moved on, but Wanda didn’t want to move on, because ignoring this was only going to make it ten times worse. Because sooner or later, Seb was going to break once again and it was going to hit them hard. To make it worse, their daughters might be born by then. She was thinking about their safety as well...

Mabel called them one day, telling them that she had knitted like, "Thousands of onesies!", and little cute mittens, hats and socks for her new cousins. “Auntie Wanda! We HAVE to make a baby shower!” Wanda couldn’t help but smile at that, Mabel was such a sweetheart. “Do we?”

“OF COURSE! It’s gonna be HUGE! With all our family! And you invite ALL your friends too, to get THOUSANDS of presents!” She squealed. “I’m already searching for a place to host it! It could be in Gravity Falls! Dipper wants to take Dad there to prove there were monsters there, but Dad still doesn’t believe us.”

“I'd appreciate if it was in Gravity falls!” Dipper’s voice was heard in the background, which made Seb and Wanda laugh. “But don’t worry, baby showers are like, done in the 8th month, so we still have lots of time to plan the BABY PARTY!” Mabel screamed into the phone. “That sounds AMAZING, SHOOTING STAR!” Seb exclaimed. “When Zoe and Zully are...7 months along, we will call you to see how the master of party planners is doing~” Mabel laughed, screaming about how excited she was.

“You know what Sixer told me? When everyone in town found out Wanda was pregnant, they all wanted to give us something! Isn’t that so cool?! And, Ford told me that Glasses wants to build a rocket powered diaper change table. With a tank cannon.” Seb giggled. “Woah, whaaaa?” Dipper joined in the call. “Well...At least his memory is fine now? Right? It IS fine now, right?” Dipper asked sheepishly.

“Mr. McGucket is cray cray~” Mabel laughed. “And you WILL accept it! That would make the girls look SO cool!”

“Yes, Pinetree, his memory is healed now, and nooo, Shooting Star! Of course not!” Seb laughed. “Fortunately, Fordsie and the new group of scientists working at the center managed to talk him out of it...He...seems to still be very fond of building dangerous things…”

“Oh! Oh! Have you told aunt Wanda about that time when the Gobblewonker-”

Wanda was trying to listen to her niece, she really was, but she was more focused on rubbing Seb’s hand. He was finally letting her touch his hands again, after what seemed like an eternity. He was smiling brightly, and she suddenly wondered if his smiles were all fake. How long had he been hiding his pain? How long had he been fake smiling for someone else’s sake?

It wasn’t fair, and she had allowed this to happen for so long…

\--.--

But, things weren’t always that bad. Sometimes, the unexpected brought good. Wanda turned 5 months pregnant, with all the joys that came with it, while Seb was at home, pacing in front of his unstarted dress. “I can’t believe she wants this dress for a wedding as a GUEST. This. Color. Is. Not. For. A. Wedding!” He took a deep breath. “Ok, alright, whatever, I’m getting paid for this, it’s not my problem...” Seb trailed off, thinking about how his client will be stared at, people will judge her dress and then judge him for making it. “No, it’s my problem! It IS my problem!” He quickly grabbed his phone to call his client with awful taste. Sure, there was wanting to stand out (as rude as that would be to the actual bride who was supposed to be the most stand out one at the wedding), but… BLED?!

The woman picked up but before Seb could order her to come to his house right now, there was an urgent knock on the door. “Miss, hi, we need to talk about your dress!” Seb walked over to the door to open it, and behind it, was Dillon, a very distressed Dillon.

…

“Miss, eh, I can’t talk right now? SORRY! Please call me later.” Seb hung up and stared at his oldest nephew. “Yellow, how are you her-Wow! Dillon? Are you ok?” The blond-brunette asked softly when he noticed Dillon actually crying, crouching to hug him better.

“Can I live here forever?” The young teen sobbed, wiping his tears on Seb’s vest and making him grimace slightly. “Sorry, kid, but you have your parents...What’s wrong?” He picked him up to carry him inside. Dillon let out a broken sob. “I-I heard-my-my mom...on the phone…”

“I can’t understand you if you are crying like that.”

Dillon took a deep breath. “My-My mom was...telling someone...that-that she’s pregnant…”

Seb’s brain made a short circuit. It went blank for a second as Dillon sobbed into his chest.

Carla...Carla? Carla as in Stan’s fiancée? And...She was pregnant? Pregnant like...Wanda pregnant?? WAIT.

“Your mom’s pregnant?!” Dillon glared softly. “Didn’t you hear me sob it at you?!” The boy sniffled. Seb smiled wide though. Fez was having another baby?!!! Oh Circles that was AMAZING! “Dillon, you’re gonna be a big brother!!” Seb laughed and hugged him. Dillon pushed him away. “Well, now you have to adopt me! Because-because dad is going to kick me out!”

“...What?” Seb froze, not understanding the leap in logic there.

“Dad won’t love me anymore when-when that ugly baby’s born! Mom won’t love me anymore because, because she’ll raise a baby with dad and she won’t care about me!” The child’s brown eyes were still spilling heavy tears, actually thinking he was being replaced. Seb’s look softened “Hey...that’s not true~ I know how you feel, Dillon, but I swear it’s not true~” At the sad pout his nephew was making, Seb hummed.

“If you are so worried, then do you want me to call and threaten him~?” Dillon nodded and snuggled closer to his uncle. Seb called Stan this time and waited. 

“Hey, Fez~” **“SEBASTIAN!! WE DON’T KNOW WHERE DILLON IS!”**

“Oh, he’s with me at my place.”

“What. How?! Tell him he's SO GROUNDED!” Stan roared.

“Ok, but first!” Seb smiled at Dillon and nodded reassuringly. “You BETTER love my godson the same when the baby is born!!”

Stan stopped. What? “When...your kids are born?” What did they have to do with Dillon?

“No, when YOURS is born! Congratulations by the way!! Our babies will be almost the same age! GASP! Triplet cousins!” Seb got distracted and squealed.

Stan’s brain made a short circuit. “Um...I-I don’t understand?” “Carla, you idiot! Carla’s pregnant! Dillon told me he heard her--”

"Carla is **what?!"** …Stan’s mind went black as he dropped unconscious to the ground, Seb and Dillon heard a thud when he fell.

\--.--

“You know, guys, I think we’re pretty good at making kids on the first tries, we should all drink and celebrate!” Shermie smiled adorkably in their group facetime, as Seb and Stan deadpanned.

The news flew fast, and not only around the family, the actual news somehow learnt Carla was pregnant and professional player Stanley Pines, who had made his comeback last year, was waiting for a second child. 

Stan had been so offended to learn his fianceé was pregnant from his brother and not from her! Carla was very sheepish about it all, apologizing and saying she just wanted to be 100% sure the fetus made it through the first months… Stanley easily forgave her. She was pregnant!! They were going to have a son or daughter! Dillon was returned home and grounded for leaving like that, asking their poor driver to take him to Pennsylvania! The kid had balls! Now Stan had to pay the man for that! Thanks, Dillon!!

Dillon didn’t speak more about the topic, not when his family was so excited (Granny Kari wanted the _parasite_ to be a girl like Uncle Seb’s twins), not when his parents, after the initial upset for not knowing, were SO happy...He couldn’t be more of a bother…

“Well, I’m very happy for you two.” Ford nodded at his brother, calmly sipping his elixir of life, coffee. “Well, now you need to have kids to catch up to the rest of us!” Seb teased. Ford choked on said elixir of life.

\----.---

It was a quite late afternoon, the sky was darkening pretty soon and Wanda was reading a book, with Seb napping just next to her. He was scared of leaning on her belly so he had stopped doing it. If only she knew what actually happened in that nightmare, she could help, but NOPE! He was still saying he was fine when he clearly wasn’t.

Zully and Zoe, feeling like big kids now that they were almost six months old in the womb, were getting restless without a snack and one of them, Wanda bet it was Zully, kicked her to get food. Well, to be fair to the girls, eating something sounded amazing right now~

“Honey...Sebas…” Wanda felt horrible for waking him up, if she could, she would stand up, but it had been hard work to sit down in the first place. Aaanndd if she tried to stand up she’d want to pee and-god, she hated being pregnant. If her daughters weren’t the result, she would have sterilized herself years ago.

Seb sleepily rubbed against her arm. “Hhmm…” God, she was an asshole, he looked so cute~ “We’re hungry, Sebas…” She pouted. Seb opened his eye very slowly and narrowed it at Wanda. “...Um...Now?” He asked with a hoarse but whiny voice. Wanda nodded, pouting at him. Seb laughed lightly. “Alright, what do you want for lunch?” He glanced at the clock. “Early dinner?”

“Roast chicken! With olives! And some more of those pickles we got from the supermarket!” Wanda said quickly. Seb nodded. “Alright, one chicken feast coming right up!” He wobbled off, still a little stiff from waking up.

“Oh and Sebas?”

“Yeah?” He planned to buy ice cream, some good dessert after chicken! The babies needed to learn to love ice cream! Wanda smiled. “I love you, thank you...from the three of us.”

Seb’s eye widened a bit before he smiled. It was really nothing, it was actually his job to get the food. But he felt all warm inside when she smiled at him. “You’re welcome, I’d do this anytime.” He returned to the couch to give Wanda a kiss. “And I love you three.” Wanda grabbed his hand and put it on her belly, making Seb jerk it away as if it burnt him. “I-I’m going out now! It will get late!” He quickly ran to his car. He didn’t trust himself with touching the twins yet... Just, he needed a bit more time…

Wanda sighed when the door closed. She really needed to find a therapist for him. She already had a list of names, different people that she was hoping to meet and get Sebastian to meet, see if he liked any of them. Maybe she should find some more options, you were never too sure. She reached for her laptop with a lot of effort and put it on her stomach. “Girls, you make an excellent portable but heavy table…” Wanda laughed.

\---

Seb sometimes hated himself. Oh well, a lot of times, but right now, he could swear a car was following him and his paranoid self was making him PANIC! It was so dumb, cars drove! They weren’t following you! But his dumb brain wasn’t understanding the message.

He parked at the grocery store downtown, they sold a great roast chicken there, and got out of his car. The car ‘following him’ parked a few lots away. “It’s ok...they just want roast chicken as well…” He mumbled to himself. He just needed to walk and get to the door, _a far far away door_ , and he’d be safe.

Halfway there, when he was already chanting ‘victory’, he felt someone grab his arm from behind, pointing him in the back with something. His experience and common sense told him him it was a gun just covered by the pocket it was in. “Move.”

“Now? I-I gotta get food for my girlfriend, dude…” Seb complained as he was forced to walk away from the door. Huh, he REALLY hated himself. He KNEW he was being followed! But he didn’t do anything! How dumb, dammit.

He was taken to the car parked just almost next to his and a bag was put over his head. “Are you seriously kidnapping me?!” The bag smelled funny… Seb closed his eye.

And then, he woke up. Tied up to a chair. It spoke a lot about how his life had gone up to this point that he wasn’t even surprised, more of an annoyance. “Hey! Kidnappers! I’d love to play this all you want but I need to go back! So let me go, and we won’t have problems!”

A young man with an older man appeared out of nowhere and glared at him. “SHUT UP!” The younger one shouted before slapping him. What a rude kid. Seb turned back to face them, entirely unimpressed. "Really? Just hitting me without even making a threat first? An eager little newbie, huh?" Seb drawled. The kid seemed quite offended and reared back to slap him again but the older man grabbed his hand.

"Don't fall for such obvious bait." The older man grunted. The younger man sneered but stepped back. "Just wait for our boss to get here, stupid!" He smirked, trying to look superior while Seb yawned. "Right. Sure." Seb rolled his eye. Ugh, did he seriously wake up for this?

The two strangers turned away from him and began speaking to each other in rapid Spanish.

“¿Seguro que es él?” “Claro, ¡es idéntico a él!” “Bueno, tienes razón...Son trillizos después de todo, de seguro pagará bien por la seguridad de su hermanito…” “¡Al jefe le va a encantar todo el dinero que le vamos a sacar! ¡Jajajaja!”

As they spoke, Seb burned his ropes away quietly and discreetly before he saw his chance and leaped up at them, taking down the older man first. An extra pair of arms erupted from his sides and he snarled as he flung the man against the far wall. The kid screamed in terror at the sight of the second pair of arms. A demon!! Seb turned to glare at the younger kid.

No one was kidnapping him while he had his GIRLFRIEND and CHILDREN relying on him to get them dinner! His pregnant girlfriend wanted her chicken and pickles and by DAMN he was getting her those chicken and pickles!

It was as he was lifting the younger man into the air, grinning at the terrified look on his face, that the older man (who was coughing a few yards away) gasped, "Boss!"

Seb turned to look around at where the kid was looking at before throwing the kid towards the older man, making both groan. “RICO?!”

The Colombian man was looking at him up and down, before he exclaimed. “¡NO JODAS! JAJAJAJA ¡¡GRINGO!!”

Seb’s extra arms were absorbed into his torso once again before walking towards his old partner in crime. “Hi! It’s...been a while, huh? The closest I was to you was that time with the pug puppies, did everything go fine?”

“Perfect, thanks for the help, actually, you received your payment no?” Rico raised an eyebrow. Seb nodded and rubbed the back of his head. “It’s nice to see you again, i guess...but, why did you kidnap me?”

Rico stopped. “I was going to ask you what were you doing here!” Seb frowned. “You didn’t ask those two to kidnap me at the supermarket to make my brother pay for a rescue?” Rico shook his head, really confused. The Colombian man stomped towards his men and screamed. “GET UP!!” The two obeyed, albeit in pain, and Rico sneered at them. “Explain.”

“Uh-Uh...It was his idea!” The kid cried before kneeling to kiss his boss’ hand. Seb laughed. How pathetic. “A-A group of us-we-we thought we could make a-a simple kidnapping to-to a Pines to get Stan-Stanley Pines to pay for ransom...Um, ever since he came back-”

Rico raised a hand to make him stop and the kid shut up. “Listen here you piece of shit. You don’t get to plan things, I do. And whatever I say it’s done! IF I DON’T SAY ANYTHING, YOU DON’T GET TO DO SHIT!! Especially to the Pines!!! GOT IT, YOU MORONS!!???”

“Yes, sir! We are sorry sir!!” The two apologized profusely before scrambling away like rats to tell the other members involved that the plan was cancelled. Rico and Seb watched them go before Rico turned to look at Seb. “So! I know you have a girlfriend now!”

“How do you-”

“I have eyes everywhere~ And I can’t let anything happen to you, you hit a soft spot in my heart, kid.” Rico pulled Seb close to give him a noogie. Seb froze and closed his eyes until it was over, whimpering just slightly. “She really is hot, huh? How’s she in bed?” Rico waggled his eyebrows.

“Hey!” Seb snarled and Rico lifted his hands in defeat. “Ok! Ok! Keep it to yourself, _aish_!” Rico laughed. “Really though gringo? A woman and kids on the way? She tied you up didn’t she?” Seb scoffed. "Don't say it like that! I love her." Rico slung a large muscular arm around Seb’s shoulders. “...so what was that, monster form, huh? You never told me you could do THAT! We always knew you were some kind of witch with you healing so freaking fast! But you had more powers?!”

Seb groaned but couldn’t help a small grin. Despite everything, Rico was still a friend. He helped Seb with SO many things. Faking Ford’s death and Stan’s kidnapping being just one of them. And, if what Seb just heard Rico say to his men meant anything, Rico had declared Seb’s family as off limits, which was pretty much the nicest thing anyone in Rico’s position could do.

So he told Rico about his powers, he’d already seen it anyway, so why not. The two chatted for a bit to catch up on lost time before Rico offered to drive him back to the store to get those chicken and pickles Wanda wanted. “Ya need to pamper your girl for dealing with you every day!” Rico called before waving and driving away. Seb's shopping went peacefully and he drove home quite happily. Wanda whined, “Finally! We were starving! What took so long?!”  Seb just kissed her and smiled as he served the food. “Sorry, I got kidnapped by an old friend and lost track of time…” Wanda hummed. She didn’t think too hard about it, Seb used the word kidnap for everything, so she thought Seb found someone at the store and got distracted.

“Ah, you see? You have more friends!”  She happily ate the pickles but apparently didn’t want the chicken anymore. She wanted nachos now.

Seb sighed heavily as he drove back to the store. He couldn’t believe he was already being ordered around by his kids and they weren’t even _born_ yet! As annoying as this was, he was glad that Rico’s mafia family wasn’t going to harm his family.

Days later, they got a mysterious box with the word ‘Gringo’ on it full of stuffed toys.

\----.---

It might have been the stress from Wanda’s worry over Sebastian’s self harming tendencies, it might have been bad luck, it might have been Wanda continuing to go to work instead of taking her maternity leave, but now, two and a half months before the scheduled due date, while Wanda was trying to think up a good way to pose her threat without causing Sebastian any more distress than her ‘blackmail’ would already put on him, Wanda’s water broke.

She was at work at the time, sitting through a meeting with some work partners. Her stomach ached. The girls had been moving more and Wanda had been in pain since this morning. She had thought nothing of it, ignoring the pain all day. Her partner noticed her grimace and rub her swollen belly. “Wanda, are you ok?” She asked. Wanda groaned. “Yeah-yeah...I’m-”

Suddenly she felt something shift and then her pants were soaked as fluids leaked from between her legs like a waterfall. “Ahh! No! No! I’m not fine!! Help!” Wanda began to panic as the pain got worse. There was blood pouring out from between her legs now. Her body was on fire and her belly felt like it was BURNING. Literally burning from the inside. She screamed and cried out in agony as she felt the intense heat coming from inside her womb. “Help me!!! My babies!! AAAAHHH!!!!!”

Her co-workers called for the ambulance, all of them freaking out as well, knowing Wanda was only six months into her pregnancy made it all worse. They could have driven Wanda to the hospital, but when Wanda started screaming and crying while holding her stomach, they realized something was horribly wrong and they needed an ambulance.

Wanda sobbed as she clutched her stomach, “Please, please help me! No!! NOOO! NOOO! SEBASTIAN!!” She begged through her pain. She was going to lose them!! She was going to lose her daughters! No, no, no! The paramedics got there quickly and lifted her onto a stretcher. Wanda sobbed in pain when she was moved, even though they were trying to be as gentle as possible. Everything hurt, everything was on fire. One of them began carefully unbuttoning Wanda’s shirt once they were in the ambulance, so they could see her stomach better, in case she needed emergency care.

“It hurts!!!” She screamed at the paramedics. “We know, we know, dear, we’re going to the hospital now--” “BURRNNSSS!!!!” Wanda interrupted, sobbing.

“Burns?” One of them asked. “What do you mean, burn?” Wanda didn’t have the energy to continue screaming and her head fell backwards. “Burn…” Her skin was so hot her tears were steaming. She closed her eyes and went still.

When they lifted her shirt and saw her belly, the female paramedic gasped. Wanda’s stomach seemed to be… glowing from the inside. Like there was some sort of fire burning inside her. It was flickering for a while before going dark, the poor woman’s temperature (which had been dangerously high) dropping slightly. They all shook themselves out of their shock, there was an expecting mother with twins who needed emergency help. “ Hand me the IV!” The female paramedic barked at her partner. “Don’t worry dear. We’ll do everything in our power to help…” She only hoped they made it on time.

\----.---

Sebastian nearly had a heart attack when he got the call from the hospital. “Ms. Friedmann is in the operating room. You were her emergency contract.” He dropped the suit he was working on and ran down to get his car. He almost ran a few red lights, ignoring the angry honking from the other drivers as he raced to the hospital."FUCK YOU!" He snarled at all of them.

_'Please be alright. Please be alright!'_

He had trouble seeing the road through his tears. The twins were coming NOW?! It was way too early! That was bad, right? The children weren't done growing yet! Sebastian pulled into the parking lot, not even keeping inside the lines as he stumbled out of his car and ran for the doors.

_'Please be alright, please be alright!'_

"WHERE'S MY GIRLFRIEND?!" Seb screamed at the receptionist. She shrank back from him. "What's her name?"

"Wanda Friedmann! She-she's pregnant and th-they said she went into labor a-and--"

"Calm down sir. I will look her up now." The receptionist typed quickly. Recent arrivals, Wanda… maternity ward… there! She looked up at Sebastian. "She's currently in the operating room in the maternity ward. Just head down the hall there and take a right."

"But is she okay?!" Seb asked desperately. The woman frowned. "I don't know. You can go to the ward and ask the receptionist there." Seb rushed off in a hurry. The lady didn't mind the lack of thanks, the poor man had an expectant girlfriend in the operating room.

Seb wiped his tears as he ran towards the ward. Please be alright, please be alright! Axolotl, PLEASE! PLEASE! He didn’t want to lose them, he didn’t want to lose Wanda or his daughters!! “No…"

He reached the place and the receptionist didn’t have more information than the other one. They simply told him that Wanda needed an emergency c-section as the babies were coming really premature and there were complications. “C-C what?” He sat down to investigate what the hell that meant and when Goodle solved his doubts, he was screaming in the waiting room, demanding to be let in. They were going to fucking **cut her open!!!!!!**

“I want to be there! I want to see my girlfriend!!” He pleaded between tears. The receptionist called a nurse who then called a doctor. The doctor asked them to keep the man out. Usually they would allow dads to be with the mothers, but this particular gentleman was way too anxious. He was hyperventilating, hitting the walls, and kicking the tables, so it would be dangerous to have him inside.

“YOU CAN’T KEEP ME AWAY FROM WANDA!!! YOU CAN’T!!” “Sir, please, behave or I’ll have to call security and I’m sure you don’t want that…” the nurse said pityingly.

Seb curled up on the floor and sobbed. He would never know if Wanda was alright, he’d never know if the girls were alright. Why was he so stupid? Why didn’t he take care of them better!! If-If Wanda had a miscarriage it was going to be his fault, his fault…

One of the other expectant fathers in the waiting room helped carry Seb into a chair. "Breathe man, if you faint then you won't be here to see your wife and kid." The other guy tried to reassure him. Seb continued to sob into his hands. "They're going to cut her open!" He wailed. The other man patted his back.

Seb shook with the force of his sobs. Wanda was going to die. His daughters were going to die. It was all his fault.

\----

**(((Warning for written description of the surgery)))**

Wanda was unconscious as the doctors carefully rubbed sterilizing cream along her belly (staring in disbelief at the temperature, someone was luckily working on that though) before they brought the scalpel down. Everyone startled when a burst of hot steam hissed out as they opened the woman up. "What the fuck?!" One surgeon backed away.

"It's like all her fluids boiled!" One doctor murmured in horror. Another doctor glared. "Quit gaping and start working!" He reached in to begin moving all the woman's lower organs out of the way. They had to get to her uterus. They all worked quietly and quickly (but made sure not to rush), knowing that they were on a time limit. The poor woman had lost a lot of blood. They also discovered that her amniotic fluid had boiled away as another burst of steam rose when they opened her womb.

They finally managed to get everything settled and the doctors all winced. "It almost looks like she was being burned from the inside…" One of them said in a voice barely above a whisper, horrified.

The head surgeon proceeded to take the children out. They were so, so small. But they were still alive. They cleared their little noses and mouths and the newborns took a mouthful of air before wailing. Well, one of them wailed, the other was quiet and the doctors feared the worst before they let out a whimpering cry.

"Take them to the incubators." He called back and they quickly got the two newborns hooked up. Identical twin girls. One of the other doctors wrote down the time of birth for the two of them. They also kept note on which one was older, because the parents generally wanted to know that information. Soon enough, the little babies were taken away to the neonatal intensive care unit, they needed to make sure they survived, they were barely 24 weeks old! They might be alive now, but there were no guarantees the twins would even make it through the night.

The machine hooked up to Wanda beeped and there was another shuffle as they checked on her to make sure they didn't lose her. It had been a few hours and they still had a lot of work to do.

**((((((((((((Okay, it's safe now))))))))))))))**

\---

Seb wasn't even able to call his family and tell them…

What would he tell them anyway?! That Wanda and the girls were dying and it was his fault?

That he failed being a good father and just let this happen without trying to do anything to stop it?! How stupid could he be?!!! This shouldn’t have happened, he should have been more careful, he should have never had kids! He knew this was going to happen!! He knew it!

“Sebastian?” Seb looked up and cried in shock at Wanda’s parents. Of course they were called as well! And now he had to tell them-tell them-

“Oh, no, please don’t cry! Everything will be alright!” Linda’s eyes were full of tears. Gosh, she had been so scared when she was called from Wanda’s job to tell her Wanda had a complication with her pregnancy! “Everything will be alright, Wanda is the strongest, sweetie, please…”

“We-We were told she had a complication?” Elijah frowned in worry and Seb blew his nose on his sleeve. “N-no...she went into labor! And-and now they’re cutting her open and I can’t help or be there! And she’s going-and the babies are going-” Seb was a total mess, his nose was clogged, and his sight was blurry with tears, he couldn’t even speak well.

“I’m sorry…” Seb sobbed. Elijah went to get him some tissues. Linda hugged her daughter's boyfriend. "Shhh, it's okay. It's going to be alright."

The three waited a long while. The man who talked to Seb was called hours ago and he left, but not before whispering a “Good luck.”, to the family. Seb wanted to call his family, he was so scared and he needed them right now, but the idea of losing Wanda and the girls kept him from doing anything else but rock back and forth.

The hours stretched on and finally, a tired looking doctor came out and smiled. "Are you the family of Wanda Friedmann?" He asked them gently. They nodded, Elijah helping Seb to his feet. "Well, Wanda is resting now. We have her on a lot of painkillers and she won't be waking up for a long time. But otherwise, she's doing well."

They heaved a sigh of relief but there was still worry in their eyes. The doctor sighed. "The twins are stable for now, but they're incredibly premature, twins are normally premature, but this is sooner than even the normal estimates, they're on life support right now. You can go see them and Wanda, but you'll need to be sterilized."

The babies were in a different room, specifically for premature babies where you had to be immaculately clean, but with Wanda's incredibly recent surgery, she needed a clean environment to heal and any infections would be dangerous. The Friedmanns and Sebastian nodded, going with the doctor to get sterilized. Seb was shaking. The girls were on life support. They were…

Linda hugged Seb's shoulder, "Come on, sweetie. We're gonna go see them. They're going to be fine." The three had to protect themselves really well before entering to Wanda’s room. They wore isolation gowns, masks, gloves, shoe covers and hand sanitizer before the nurse even let them in. Seb had to take off his clothes because he blew his nose into it and wash up his face as well. Wanda was laying on the hospital bed, breathing softly, with the monitor beeping slowly next to her. Seb sniffled and quickly made his way to the side of the bed, face covered with a medical mask. “Wanda...Pumpkin...” Tears threatened to fall as he slowly and gently stroked her really pale cheek.

“I’m here, it’ll be ok, I’m sorry, I’m sorry...You will be alright, ok? And, and the babies are fine…They will be fine…” Seb buried his head next to her arm and torso as Linda and Elijah walked towards their daughter. The sobbing mother held Wanda’s hand as Elijah softly stroked her blond hair. “You did it, honey…You’re the best...So tough.” Elijah whispered. They’d been told to avoid touching her belly since they had just stitched her back up. Seb was still horrified that humans had to do things like THAT to get babies out. And he thought the natural way was disturbing enough! He would have preferred that a million times more over THIS!

Now that they knew for sure Wanda was safe and stable, Seb could finally call his family. He started with his mom, who was really worried at the news and said she was coming right away. Kari told Stan about the news before Seb could even call him, and Stan had called Seb back to reassure him everything was going to be **fine** and not to worry, that Wanda and his daughters were going to make it. Stan offered to tell everyone else for him, as Seb hurt every time he had to repeat the news that the twins were in intensive care and in a life or death situation, and Seb accepted the offer.

Stan was so scared though. If it happened to Wanda, it could easily happen to Carla...

Stan then called the rest of his brothers to tell them the bittersweet news. Ford had gasped loudly. “Oh no...They’re much too young, prematures babies before 25 weeks have incredibly low possibilities of surviv-”

“Ford. **Please** . Don’t make this any worse, yeah? And don't **even** let Sebastian hear you say that.” Stan thanked the skies it wasn’t Seb calling this FOOL. Ford nodded, ashamed, and said he was going as well to give his triplet some POSITIVE support.

Shermie felt the news deep to his core. Mabel and Dipper had been born premature as well...and Abbi was much too young, he had been SO scared, he knew what his older brother was feeling. Stan had Dillon now, but he unfortunately wasn’t there when he was born. He could only imagine what it felt like, not KNOWING it.

When the twins came back from school, Shermie sat them down for a talk. “Your cousins were born this afternoon.” He told them. Dipper had frowned "What?", as Mabel screamed a super excited, “Aaaahhhhh!!!! Baby coussinsss!!!!!!”

“Mabel, honey, listen. Zully and Zoe have been born really premature, they were only in your aunt’s belly for 6 months, not 8 or 9, and it makes a really big difference.” Shermie explained calmly, making Mabel stop her happy jumping. “They are in the hospital, and their condition might not be the best...I’m going to go to Sebastian to support him...but I want you to know that the babies _might_ not make it ok? We pray to God they do but…” Dipper covered his mouth as Mabel gasped, her eyes welling up with tears. “But...babies…” She whimpered and hugged her Dad tightly. “I don’t want them to die…” She didn’t want her little cousins to leave so soon, Uncle Seb was going to be devastated and she didn’t want him to feel sad.

“No one wants that, pumpkin, no one...Now that you know, would you still like to go? You might not see your cousins, but at least we can show Seb we are there for him.” Both kids nodded firmly. “”Yes!””

“I’m going to make Aunt Wanda a card.” Mabel ran away to her room. Dipper pulled down on Wendy's hat. "W-what do we do if...if thEy dOn't…" his voice cracked and for once, Shermie didn't laugh or even tease him for it. He pulled his youngest kid in for a hug and kissed his birthmark. “Well...We will be there for Seb and Wanda if things turn out for the worst...God will protect them, and we will help and give our support no matter what…” Shermie patted his cheek. “Now, go prepare a small backpack for you and your sister. He loved Mabel but he didn’t trust her to take just the necessities for a few days. Dipper rolled his eyes and went to his room as well.

Dillon didn’t even need to be told. He was already making a bag as soon as he heard his dad tell his mom about his cousins. “Let’s go.” The teenager said firmly.

\--.---

Seb didn’t move from Wanda’s side all day and all night. His in laws (sorta) had taken a second to meet their grand daughters and were even allowed to hold their minuscule hands with an special glove that was part of the incubator.

“Sebas, honey, you have to meet your daughters...They’re so beautiful…” Linda pleaded. “You have to eat, son.” Elijah also reminded him.

“When Wanda wakes up…” He muttered. The couple had glanced at each other in worry but left him to it. Elijah brought some food bars up to give Sebastian. "Here, at least eat these. If you collapse from hunger you wouldn't be able to see Wanda wake up."

Seb, with much difficulty, took the bar and chewed on it, morose expression never leaving his face. The night arrived, and only one person was allowed to stay at the hospital overnight. Seb didn’t move from his spot, and fell asleep leaning on Wanda’s bedside.

His family arrived over the course of the next few days. Hugs were given and received. Mabel tried very hard not to cry when she gave her uncle a hug. Wanda still hadn't woken up. Shermie asked the doctors and apparently the inside of Wanda's uterus appeared almost… burnt. It confused all the doctors but they believed whatever had happened, had caused Wanda to fall into a healing sleep, like a less intense coma, until her body could recover.

The triplets and twins shared a look. Oh. Seb had sat up, eye wide with horror at this knowledge. He whispered a broken, "My fault…" what if he had burned her? He was a dream demon! What if his nightmare had actually affected her?! Stan had to slap him when Seb started screaming. The Pines brothers had to work together to drag Sebastian out of the room and into an empty room to calm him down.

The poor man was in hysterics.

“IT WAS MY FAULT! I BURNT HER! I BURNT HER! NOW SHE AND THE TWINS ALMOST DIED!” Seb wailed. Stan had to slap him again. "It wasn't your fault!" Shermie also glared at him. He didn’t burn her! How would he even burn her ANYWAY?! Ford left the room to hold his watch scanner over Wanda's body. It beeped. He frowned and returned to the other room where Stan and Shermie were wrestling Seb.

As they struggled, Ford held his scanner near Seb and frowned at the readings.

“Seb! Stop it!” Shermie pleaded.

“I burnt her!!! I burnt the twins!!”

“How?!” Shermie wailed and Seb spat at him angrily. “In my dreams, Sherman, in my dreams!! I’m. A. DEMON!!!”

Ford adjusted his glasses. "Well, dream or not, there WERE signs of weirdness on Wanda's body. But they don't match your signature." Ford told Sebastian calmly. That made all the men freeze and stare at him. "What does that mean?" Stan asked.

Ford sighed. "Well, I haven't scanned the twins to check, but I believe I was right in my hypothesis that Sebastian's children have inherited his powers."

Seb gaped wide eyed. He...He didn’t burn them…?

“His powers?! What are you talking about?!” Shermie asked, lost as to what was going on. Seb, still staring at nothing, made his hands catch on fire and Shermie screamed LOUD, scrambling away from his brother. Seb paid him no mind. “The...the twins... burnt her…? But I passed on my demon powers!” He went back to crying. “It’s my fault!”

“You are not in control of your DNA.” Ford patted his shoulders. “Sebastian, if your kids have your powers, it means they would also heal as fast as you do. They’re not in any immediate danger.” The triplet with glasses smiled slightly.

"B-but Wanda…" Sebastian's lips quivered.

“And, if I guess right, which, I always do~, Wanda is also healing from it, if she wasn’t, her body wouldn’t have lingering weirdness.” Ford told his brother.

“AREN'T YOU WORRIED HE CREATED FIRE OUT OF NOWHERE?!!” Shermie cried.

Stan and Ford both deadpanned, "Yeah, he just does that. It's fine." Like this wasn't something to panic over. Shermie pulled at his hair. What was even happening?!?!

“Geez, Shermie, he just has powers, deal with it.” Stan scoffed. “We have more important things to worry about.”

Seb wiped his tears and managed a small smile. The...the twins burned Wanda...but they also healed her...That was… both incredibly adorable and creepy. The idea of dealing with two girls with powers made him want to faint.

Zoe and Zully had powers…

Ford barely caught his triplet when he fell backwards, the shock and exhaustion finally catching up to him. Despite Ford's relief that miss Wanda was going to be alright, Ford couldn't help a small bit of worry. HOW had Sebastian passed on his powers? Some lingering Weirdness in his sperm? Ford shook his head. This wasn't important right now. Taking care of his brother was.

“Has he had powers all his life? Is-Is he like the human torch?”

““Dammit, Sherman, shut up!””

\---

Wanda woke up a few days later. The doctors were amazed ("There's barely a scar! The cut from the surgery is gone!") and ran all sorts of tests. To the best of their knowledge, Wanda was fully healed, if incredibly exhausted and sore. Seb cried into her arms in relief.

She woke up to her parents hugging her tightly and kissing every part of her face. “Gu-Guys...Where's the babies? Where are my daughters?” She touched her stomach and found herself feeling weirdly empty. She could see her feet again.

Seb kissed her lips as hard as he could. “In intensive care, but they’ll be fine! They ARE fine! Your parents have seen them! They took photos!”

“You haven’t seen Zoe and Zully yet?” Wanda asked softly and Seb shook his head. “I was waiting for you. We're gonna see them together." He clasped her hand. “Mabel and Dillon brought you this.” He showed her the cards and balloons the kids brought her (the balloons didn't have helium though, they were simply blown up by mouth, because wasting helium for balloons was pointless). “Magda also wanted to visit, but I told her to do it at home, you were sleeping for a while.” He teased.

“How long have I been sleeping?” Wanda asked. Elijah gave her a sheepish grin. “Around 4 days…” “ **WHAT**!?" 

The doctors found Wanda fit to leave the next day, after shockingly declaring she was fully healed, not even her uterus was damaged, compared to how burnt it was when she was brought here.

So, pushed in a wheelchair to be extra careful with her, Seb and Wanda were FINALLY led to meet their daughters for the first time.

The nurses wanted to make their stay as nice and comfortable for the parents as possible, so they conditioned and cleared a small area for them, with an armchair and a chair next to it. The two stopped at the end of the room, and the nurse happily pointed at one incubator. Wanda and Seb slowly leaned forward and their voices got caught in their throats at the sight of the sleeping infants. Holy god, they were the tiniest things they have ever seen...

“H-Hi…” Wanda choked down a sob as Seb stared with a teary smile. “I-I don’t know which one is which…” He chuckled tearfully. One of the nurses smiled. “Well, we didn’t know either, maybe you can tell us now.” They carefully took the tiny girls out and handed them to their parents waiting warms. The two tried to refuse at first ““I will drop her!!”” But at the end, they ended up holding them close to their chests. 

“Baby…” Wanda stroked her little head, wrapped in a pink hat too big for her. With a lot of effort, the infant managed to open her eyes just a tiny bit and stared at Wanda. The woman gasped softly. “Her-her eyes!” That grabbed Seb’s attention and he worriedly looked at the girl Wanda was holding. Instead of a horrible yellow eye like he feared...She had two normal eyes...of two different colors. Her left eye was green while the other one was brown. “I love them…” Wanda whispered before placing a soft kiss on the baby’s forehead. “You’re Zoe…”

Seb cradled Zully to his chest, adjusting the bundle of blankets from time to time until the infant opened their eyes and looked around for a second before whimpering in hunger. This baby’s eyes were fully brown. “Help, help, she’s crying…” Seb grimaced. The nurse handed a tiny bottle she finished preparing to Seb. “Your twins are little warriors…” She said fondly. “We didn’t expect them to be able to coordinate their suckling, but we were pretty surprised when they latched on the bottles pretty quickly.” Wanda and Seb cooed at the same time and held the babies even closer. “You’re little geniuses, huh?” Seb whispered.

He was holding his daughter, his daughter, his baby, his, his, his! He was going to hurt her! His flames flickered in his hands at his distress (to Seb's shock), but Zully didn’t even seem to mind the sudden rush of heat, in fact, the baby stopped crying and yawned, snuggling closer to their daddy. Seb's racing heart calmed as he realized that, since the babies had fire powers too, they weren't harmed by his flames!

Seb melted, he wasn’t going to let go ever again. He received the bottle and gently held it over her little lips. Voracious, the child latched onto the nipple and started sucking. He sobbed and looked at Wanda. “L-Look!”

The woman smiled and got a bottle herself to feed Zoe. “The babies had been taking a special formula, but maybe you would want to breastfeed them?” Wanda hugged Zoe closer and nodded so the happy nurse started explaining the procedure, the people that could help her and how it would help the twins while they were in NICU.

Wanda looked at Seb and both nodded in determination. Wanda was fine, the twins were fine, so Seb was feeling much better and with less fear. He was ready to face the world again! He would kill for his family! He would give the world for his daughters.

After a while, the nurse took a picture of the excited new parents holding their already sleeping twins.

\---.---

They couldn't bring the twins home from the hospital for another few months. They were only six months in development, they needed to be at least closer to eight before it would be safe to really move them. Wanda and Seb came everyday to see them. They worried a little when the doctors told them that with the extreme premature birth, there might be developmental problems that would affect the children mentally or physically.

Wanda blamed herself and Seb blamed himself. The doctors suggested therapy for the both of them due to this traumatic event. Wanda found her chance at last.

The twins were close to a month old, and Wanda decided that this was as good a time as any. She turned to Seb and said firmly. "We are both going to therapy." Perhaps, if Wanda was going too, Seb would feel less dismissive of it. Her boyfriend whined a bit. "I'm fine. I'm not…"

Wanda glared. "Well **I'm** going to therapy. And the doctor said that you need to go too." Seb tried to brush it off. "Wands, I don't need-"

"If you don't go to therapy too, then I'm not letting you near the girls anymore." Wanda finally gave her ultimatum. Seb's eye widened. "Wanda--!"

"No. I've made up my mind. And it's not just you. It's me as well. I won't allow myself to hold the girls again until I get therapy as well." Wanda said firmly. "So we're in this together." She took Seb's hand. "They're going to have trouble developing, the doctor said so, which means WE need to be at 100%, no, BETTER than 100% so that we can take care of them. And that means we need to get help."

"But…" Seb tried to protest but he could feel Wanda's hands trembling against his own. "I won't allow myself to raise them… if I won't be able to be a good mother. And that's why I'm going to therapy, to make sure that I'll be able to mentally and emotionally handle this. The twins have another month before they're released from the hospital, and I want the BOTH of us to be able to bring them home with us."

After all, Wanda was FINALLY taking that maternity leave she'd been refusing. So if she didn't have work, therapy was the way to go. God knows she's had some nightmares about burning alive from the inside out. Luckily, by some miracle she was fully recovered from her pregnancy, the cut on her lower abdomen was fully healed and she wasn't even having trouble moving around. As soon as hers and Seb's therapy was done, though Wanda suspected Seb would require more than just a month of treatment, Wanda could return to work immediately.

And she could still work on her laptop at home on simple cases so she wasn't even going to lose much progress.

It took a few more 'threats' to finally make Seb agree to see a therapist. Wanda pulled out her list. "Well, time to go meet these people and see which one you like."

"I'm not gonna like ANY of them!" Seb complained. He didn't need a therapist! He didn't need someone coming around and TELLING him how he was supposed to think and feel! He was FINE. And… if they realized He was crazy, they would lock him away and then he'd never get to be with his family.

Sebastian resolved to lie as much as he could to trick the therapist into giving him a clean bill (hah!) of health. It couldn't be THAT hard to feign sanity…

\----

Seb had rejected most of her list. Wanda could understand a few of his complaints. Still, she were getting frustrated that Seb was so against the idea. This was for his own good. Seb complained that he had no reason to need to talk about his feelings with a stranger.

Finally Sebastian sat in an office with a woman. Dr. Linda Martin. Seb laughed and said she had the same name as Wanda's mom, to which Dr. Linda had shrugged and said, "Naming people via 'proper' names will result in countless overlap since they'll be choosing from the same pool of names that billions have used before."

"Exactly!" Seb laughed. "But Wanda wouldn't let me name the kids Zomelina!" Linda smiled at him. "Now that would have been a pretty unique name. What made you come up with it?"

Seb bounced in his seat with a wide grin. "Well I was thinking of Z names since my family tends to name their kids using the first letter of their middle, but Wanda and I don't like 'w' since my middle name is William and the only good names were, well, Wanda and William! Hahah!" Seb babbled on and on excitedly and didn't even realize how much time had passed.

It was in the middle of a story about how he once knew someone named Pyronica that Dr. Linda looked over at the clock and smiled. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today, I would love to hear more about this Pyronica, but I have another client today. If you want, we can schedule your next session?"

Seb blinked. "Wait, that was my therapy session? But you didn't even ask any questions?"

"Well it's rude to ask a stranger to spill their deepest, darkest secrets in a first meeting." Dr. Linda scoffed. "I don't know you and you don't know me. I have no baseline to work with and it's not like you'll be comfortable telling me anyway."

"But… isn't that your job?" Seb seemed confused. Linda laughed. "Sebastian, my job is to help people. Digging into them to wretch out their traumas, fears and anxieties is the opposite of helping. If you have anything you want to get off your chest, I'll listen, but only if YOU feel like you want to tell me." She told him gently.

Seb blinked and thought about that. If she put it that way, it didn't sound so bad. "So what if I never tell you my dark secrets?" He asked carefully. Dr. Linda shrugged. "Then that's fine. You are you. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." 

Seb ended up choosing Dr. Linda, and scheduled a few more sessions that week and the following weeks with her. She was nice. Wanda was so proud of him. She was going to see someone too, a different therapist who specialized in new mothers, in case Wanda got post-pregnancy depression or attachment issues. She seemed ok for now, mainly just some trauma from the whole experience of having an unexpected pregnancy and the c-section from the premature labor.

And the fact the twins had fire powers and had been burning her when her water broke??? THAT was some scary shit right there.

Seb complained for a while, but he still made time to see Dr. Linda for their therapy sessions. Most of the times, Linda just listened to him babble about his family, about his niblings and mom, and then about how everyone was eager to meet the twins once they were out of the hospital.

“So your parents visited you, that’s pretty nice.” Dr. Linda smiled at Seb, who was playing with a tennis ball he found around. “No, just my Ma…” “And why is that?”

“Because I don’t have a father, he’s dead.” Seb pouted. Dr. L sighed sadly. “I’m sorry to hear that, he must have been a great father.”

Seb started throwing the ball up and  down. “Matsuda was the best of the best! He was a tailor and he lived not that far away from my house, and-and I’d go and work with him, he taught me how to repair every type of clothing and how to make suits! He-He helped me make my own suit for a school dance and-and it was the best…”

Linda nodded slowly, so he didn’t live with his father. Well, that was something.

“He was also incredibly patient with me, when I didn’t understand something and I was so dumb and clumsy, but-but Matsuda would still help me with homework and-and explain nicely everything to me...My triplet Stanford, he-he would never help me because he said I never paid attention and he couldn’t stand me, but we’re COOL now, and Stanley didn't understand the subject well enough to teach me, and Ma didn't know...and-and the teachers never helped me because they expected me to know things-but but I don’t know ‘Things’ anymore because I don't have knowledge anymore!”

Dr. Linda nodded slowly as Seb angrily wiped his tears. Ok...There was a lot to unpack here...Wanda had told her Sebastian was self harming, and she was worried he’ll take it farther. Self harming usually stemmed from depression or low self esteem. The problem must be deeper than she thought, and she needed to not only reach it, but make Seb reach it himself…

“What do you mean, you don’t have knowledge anymore?” Dr. Linda asked softly. Did he forget? Did he get injured? Seb sniffled. “I used to know EVERYTHING, like, I wanted to know something and I just DID, but then I… well, I’m here now and I’m me, and I don’t remember anymore. I lost my knowledge as I grew up, it just slipped away. And my brain doesn’t work correctly so I can’t focus on stuff and…”

...a LOT to unpack. Yup. Dr. Linda adjusted her glasses and sat up. “I’m sure that must have been frustrating.” She said simply. Seb nodded. “This body wasn’t built right, so my brain doesn’t work like it’s supposed to. It was so much easier back when I didn’t have a body…”

Dr. Linda was pretty sure that her client wasn’t even aware of what he was telling her, and she knew this was going to be one of those complicated cases. She didn’t think he was lying, which meant he was either delusional… or she was dealing with something way more complicated than she thought.

“So, Sebas…” Linda started. “Do you feel wrong in your body?” Seb shrugged as he kicked his legs. “Not really...I mean, define feeling wrong?”

“You...maybe you don’t feel like it looks right, or you don’t feel comfortable when looking at yourself?”

Seb thought about it. “I used to, back when I was younger. But I’m over that now. Well, I guess, I felt better when I dyed my hair blonde. But even if it went back to brown, I… don’t mind as much as I did when I was a kid.” He shrugged and held up his perfectly manicured hands. “I wasn’t allowed to use nail polish as a kid, even though I really wanted to. And now I can do that whenever I want.” He smiled fondly. “Wanda doesn’t mind when I paint my nails, or do my makeup. Actually, she lets me do her makeup too, when she wants to, sometimes she’s too busy and just takes a coffee and runs away!” She reminded him a bit of Ford, both could die from overworking. Wanda had him now though, and he always checked on Ford through Soos.

Dr. Linda smiled. “Well, that sounds wonderful, I’m glad your partner supports you.” So he DID have self image problems, which led to low self esteem. She was glad he was doing better now, allowed to be himself. Seb looked fond at the thought of Wanda. “She’s the best, to be honest. We met as teens and she was actually the one to convince me to take some cut and confection classes...I never finished them though...the bitch teacher failed me because she said I was useless.”

“Oh… well that wasn’t very nice of her.” Dr. Linda frowned. Comments like that most likely exasperated poor Sebastian’s already low self esteem. “But-But making clothes is actually something I can do REALLY WELL…” Seb smiled slightly. “I-I mean my parents didn't like how I played with dolls or gave them dresses, but that really never stopped me, despite my mom telling me I had to be more ‘manly’ and stop wanting to wear skirts...”

Dr. Linda nodded. Okay, one last question. “Sebastian, do you feel like you would have been happier if you were born female?” She asked gently.

Seb thought about it. Being female… “I don’t know...people would have let me do what I really want...and no one would have hurt me… But like, the body would feel the same. Both are humans, both have emotions and both would have sucked.”

Linda blinked slowly. “So...You don’t like...being human?” Seb nodded. “I would have preferred a nicer vessel, you know, stronger and less mentally weak so it could at _least_ hold infinite knowledge and doesn’t have to erase EVERYTHING to not collapse in on itself...but...I have my brothers and family as a human and I had my _daughters_ as a human, nothing as CRAZY and EXCITING happened to me in my other form! Mortal or not!”

Linda blinked again.

“I don’t try to wear dresses anymore or skirts...but I still do the other things…” Linda gazed at him. “And why you don’t wear what you want?”

“Because then people will look at me, and say mean things, and I’ll get angry and fight them but then I’ll be in trouble and I don’t really want to get in trouble.” Seb sat cross legged on the couch and smiled.

Dr. Linda sighed. Again, a LOT to unpack...

"Well I think it's unfair that you can't wear what you want. I think you would be quite lovely in a dress." Linda said honestly. Sebastian was quite the handsome man, his partner was a lucky woman. But, he clearly had some deep set issues and Linda would do her best to help Sebastian recognize and understand them so he could handle them better.

They said bye for the day, but Seb wasn’t against the idea of talking to Dr. Linda anymore. She was nice, and didn’t try to know everything of his life. She just listened to him and he liked that because she didn’t question him. Well, she did ask questions sometimes, but it was always just because she wanted to understand, get clarification on something Seb had said, he didn’t mind giving clarification. It wasn’t like Linda tried to ask him why he hurt himself, which was just something that happened, it wasn’t a big deal!

_Of course, Seb had no idea how psychologists worked~_

He went to the hospital, mentally drained for some reason, and met with Wanda there to see the twins. Zoe and Zully were doing much better now, they apparently liked when their parents visited, they leaned against their chests for hours and would cry if taken away. They could only leave (not that they wanted to) if the twins were asleep.

Wanda was breastfeeding one of the twins, Seb was ashamed to admit he couldn’t tell them apart without seeing their eyes, and Wanda smiled in relief when she saw him. “Hi…” She said with a small grimace. It hurt, despite the fact that she was doing everything the nurse said to not get hurt, but she wanted to do it, the blonde was sure she would get used to it eventually… right? It wasn’t like the inside pain she was feeling would last forever, right?

“Hi…” Seb went to look at the other sleeping twin, Zoe, seeing her foot bracelet. “And hi~ I just came from Linda’s session.” He informed Wanda in a soft voice. There were sleeping babies and a couple of other parents in here, they had to be quiet. “I HATE to admit it...but you were right...therapy is not as bad as I thought.” He poked her nose and Wanda rolled her eyes. “Told you so.”

“It’s just talking!” “Uh huh~” “And, I can talk about **me** and she doesn’t think it’s boring or unimportant….” Seb stroked Zoe’s little cheek, careful with her CPAP. Besides, even if he DIDN’T like it, he would still be faking his sanity and his well being so Wanda would let him stay with the babies. He was FINE. He didn’t need to talk to anyone, but talking to Linda was entertaining so he went along with it. He could take care of his daughters, he COULD.

Wanda just grimaced again when her chest ached, but managed to smile at Seb. She was so glad he accepted his much needed help. He was going to get better, she KNEW it!

\---.---

“And today we can FINALLY! take the twins HOME!!” Seb roared. “It took forever! But thanks to Wanda’s parents we have everything ready.” They bought them the rest of stuff they needed, like bottles, clothes, blankets, bottle sterilizers, a weird machine for milk (?) and tons and tons of diapers. Dr. Linda smiled. They had been working for a few weeks and he did tell her the twins were meant to stay 2 months at the hospital. “That’s pretty amazing! All your family will surely come see them!”

“They MUST! They PROMISED! I won’t let them get too near them though, and the kids **won’t** hold them until Zoe and Zully are older, but otherwise, yes! They’ll meet them!”

“Do you have everything ready for them?” Dr. Linda asked and Seb nodded eagerly. “Wanda’s parents helped us buying the rest of stuff we needed. Like, we barely had the crib in a box when the twins were born, but now it’s assembled and we have a room ready for the girls!”

“And how do you feel? Prepared?” “ NOT AT ALL! Like, I love them and all but fuck, I never, once in my life, thought I would have kids! Well, I thought about it, sometimes, but I was really confident that would never happen...I wasn’t interested back in Flatland, I had more important things to do, like, defeat the tyrannical government that exploited the lower classes by making said lower classes REBEL!, even when I became an immortal being of pure energy I was still busy with that! hahaha! My mind was way too insane to settle down and all that pathetic shit. This actually suits me! Like, the most pathetic me has the most mundane stuff, like family, but it’s ok, I have actually come to like this.”

Linda sighed. Here they went again. She was starting to wonder if Seb actually spoke in metaphors. “Flatland?”

Seb’s eye widened. “Oh...Shit.” Great job keeping your insanity OUT! Ok, it was ok, he could fix this, having a past life didn’t necessarily mean he was INSANE. “I’ll tell you, but don’t tell anyone!” He threatened. Linda made a zip motion over her lips and Seb threw himself back in the couch and covered his eyes with an arm. “Have you heard of reincarnation?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Well, I used to be another creature, an alien, and now I’m here, as a human and I...kinda remember all that past life and stuff…” He frowned. “Except I lost all my KNOWLEDGE. But I kept my ability to speak in tongues, so I can still speak every language, that’s pretty cool. But all my math and science stuff? Gone!”

Dr. Linda stared at Seb. “So..at some point...you were...another person, with lots and lots of knowledge in science and math...but then, you became a normal human?” Seb nodded with a smile. “Yeah! Exactly!” Linda thought about it for a bit before asking. “Ok...so, HOW did you go from an alien from-from where?” “Flatland” “-from Flatland...to being Sebastian?”

“The Axolotl, he’s like the most important God in existence and stuff. I had been dying and made a deal with him, but he reincarnated me as a dumb human just to piss me off. He actually wanted me to stop living like, last year, when I was also about to die, but I wanted to be with my family, so he allowed me to stay until I died normally.” 

Linda blinked and wrote that down. So...A past life, where Seb was an alien...and apparently a communist-socialist...She wondered if that was actually important? Seb then got distracted off the initial topic, his daughters, and went on and on about how HORRIBLE that world was (it was quite a horrible sounding place, Linda was disturbed Seb managed to imagine something like this), about how they killed ‘irregular’ people and how he was glad he BURNED that dimension to the ground. “So, you ended that world? Like...killed them?” Seb nodded, no remorse or regret in his expression. He had regretted many things, but those bastards dying? Nah. Not at all.

“And...your past self, Seb, did he have a name?” “Bill.” “So William?” Like his middle name? She wasn’t really surprised. “Yeah, but he didn’t like that so he went by Bill.” Seb hated being called Bill though, it was William or nothing.

“Ok, so, Bill would have liked having kids?” “Pfftt! Hahahahah! That bastard?! No! He would have left them to die probably, or eat their heads? Luckily I’m not like him anymore! Because I’m good! I would EAT heads of those who tried _hurting_ my kids! There’s a difference!”

Linda scratched her head. This was going to be so complicated…

\---.----

“Where are they!?” Dillon complained loudly, pulling at his mom’s hand. “They must be coming already, be patient.” Carla scolded but sighed defeatedly when she saw Stan pulling at Stanford’s arm. “Where are they??!!”

Mabel had a camera prepared and Uncle Seb and Aunt Wanda’s house was decorated with pink balloons and strings, and a sign that read ‘Welcome, babies!!’ with glitter. Mabel of course, organized all of this. It wasn’t a baby shower, because the babies were already born, but it was still a welcome baby party!

The Friedmanns stared at the Pines with mildly weirded out expressions. That family was kinda weird, but, family was family, they guessed! Elijah and Linda were trying to get everyone settled down. “Remember, keep your voices down, no screaming. You’ll scare the girls.” Linda scolded, more like scolded Mabel, as she was the only one shouting too loud. Mabel covered her mouth with her hands. She was quiet! Super quiet. Kari rolled her eyes fondly and pulled her oldest granddaughter closer to her. Soon she was going to meet her two other granddaughters!

Dipper was looking out of the window, waiting for a car to park. He jumped from his spot when Seb’s car parked in the front. “They’re here!!” They weren’t allowed to shout ‘Surprise’ or anything, but they could still dramatically point towards the gifts and decorations they all worked hard to put. Outside and unaware their family was already inside their house, Seb was grumbling at the car seats. Who EVEN designed these craps?! “Stupid-little-fucks! There!” He freed Zoe from her seat prison and moved to do the same with Zully. He wrapped them in blankets like little burritos, they didn’t want them to get cold, and Seb carried them as Wanda opened the door, she needed both hands for that.

Both stopped when they stepped inside.

“ _Surprise_ ~” Mabel whispered a shout. Seb laughed as Wanda smiled at everyone. “We didn’t know you were already here!” She exclaimed, looking at everyone.

“I have copies of the key!” Her mom said with a soft squee. Wanda stopped. Excuse me, what did her mom _say_? 

The three young teens ran towards their uncle and made grabby hands. ““Ah! Ah! See!”” Mabel and Dillon asked. (Dillon didn’t want a sibling, but he was totally fine with new cousins). Seb pulled the twins away from their reach. “Disinfect yourself first, you germ-covered brats!” Wanda shook her head fondly and gave them hand sanitizer. “The babies are still really small, we don’t want them getting sick.” Of course, the babies already had several shots but they needed to be older before they could get certain vaccinations. Until then, they would simply have to clean everything.

Everyone washed their hands and were sprayed down with a sanitizing solution, only once Sebastian was SURE they were all clean, did he direct them to sit down on the couch and carefully pass his precious children over to them. Much to Mabel’s dismay, none of the kids were allowed to carry them, their parents didn’t let them either, but Seb promised his favorite niece that when the twins were older, she’d get to carry them first, before Dipper or Dillon.

Zully was sleep, but Zoe was much more observational and suspicious than her womb companion, her heterochromatic eyes were narrowed at everyone who carried her, but she didn’t cry. Everyone could carry Zully without the fear of making them cry though. Linda and Kari carried their granddaughters, and they started sobbing slightly. They were in heaven. The babies were so small and cute and for Linda it was extra especial, they were her first grand babies. (And knowing the dumb idiot she had as a stepson, the only ones she would likely get).

“Her eyes are SO pretty! She got one eye from each of you!” Mabel put her face in between Kari and Zoe to look at them better. “She’s going to be so, so, so pretty growing up!! I’m JEALOUS!” She declared. Abigail stroked her hair and softly reassured Mabel that she was also a pretty girl. Pfft! Mabel knew _that_ ~

After Linda and Kari got their turn, Shermie declared he had the right to go first, after all, he was Seb’s favorite brother and Seb carried his kids first too. “Just do it, nerd!” Stan groaned. Shermie cooed at the little baby he was holding, giggling at the tuft of blond hair they had on their heads, before Stan got his turn. Kari and Linda were gushing over Zoe, so all of them had to share one baby. It was ok, Zully was still sleeping.

“Hey, Sixer, want to hold her?” Stan smiled at Ford, who gave him a sheepish smile and shook his head. He didn’t trust himself with tiny babies. Seb glared at Ford, completely indignant. “Excuse me? What the heck do you mean you don’t want to hold my baby?! Hold her!” Seb held Zully up to Ford, who tried to wave his hand and refuse again. He felt something grab onto his pinky and gasped when he saw that Zully was gripping onto his 6th finger, awake at last and staring up at him. “O-oh… hello there, Zully.” Ford stammered.

“Aww… she likes you~” Seb cooed. Zully stared up at Ford, tugging at his finger. “Uuwuu…” Zully vocalized as they stared at their uncle...dad? Was he dad? Wasn’t dad just holding them? Seb tried to hand Zully over once again but Ford shook his head, gently tugging at his hand to try and get his finger back. Seb pouted. “You’re no fun, Sixer.” Ford was victorious and defaulted to just gently patting their heads. He could do that!

The family chatted quietly, everything was cute and perfect, until the infants got fussy and wanted food. Seb called his nephews, he was going to teach them how to make a baby formula, as Wanda excused herself and went to her room to breastfeed Zoe. She would just do it but...she still wasn’t THAT close to Sebastian’s brothers and she would feel weird. She let the women go with her though, and Mabel was buzzing with happiness.

Wanda held Zoe up to her chest and wince in pain when the baby started feeding. Abigail looked confused. “What’s wrong?” Wanda shook her head. “I just can’t get used to how much this hurts.”

That made all the women except Mabel looked at Wanda in shock. “It’s not supposed to hurt…” Abigail said slowly. “I was a teenager when I had to breastfeed the twins and it didn’t hurt me at all.” Sure, it felt weird as hell, but...not HURT like it was clearly hurting the blonde.

“Is it the first time you are feeding them?” Carla asked in confusion and Wanda pouted before shaking her head. “No, like, a month and half ago? A little after the twins were born “Girl, you gotta go to the doctor, that’s not normal.”

Linda scoffed. “She won’t go until she’s _dying_ , it’s useless talking to her.”

“But I’m fine.” Wanda chuckled sheepishly. “It just hurts a little bit anyway, I’m still kinda sore and all from the c-section and the traumatic event…” She sent her mother a dirty look.

Mabel poked her head between them. “I don’t understand!” She said but Kari patted her head. “Don’t worry about it, sweetie.” Mabel just shrugged, and held Zoe’s hand as she ate. She was **so** going to teach them how to make the best sweaters in the world~ EEhh! She just couldn’t wait for them to grow up! How could she have wished for summer to last forever? She would have never met Aunt Wanda or her cousins if Bill had won!  She shuddered at the memory of Dippy Fresh and his cold dead body on the floor and she winced at the memory of uncle SEB’S dead body on the floor. She sometimes woke up at night thinking about it…

The family stayed until late in the night, but eventually, it was time to go to their hotels and go home. They all lived kinda far away (except Stan, who was a few hours drive away), and despite how much they wished they could visit every day, they couldn’t. “I’ll send you daily photos.” Seb promised. As soon as everyone left, Seb collapsed onto the sofa, holding Zully in his arms. “I’m so tired…” He sighed.

Wanda rocked Zoe in her arms and laughed. “Well, having everyone over was fun. Kind of wish they could be over more often, I like your family.”

“I like my family too, they’re great.” Seb squealed. Wanda couldn’t help but laugh loudly before standing up and stopped lazing around. Bathing, feeding and tucking the twins into bed needed to be done before they could even think of sleeping themselves. Zully didn’t seem to like the water, and when the infant started crying, Zoe cried too. “No, no, no, no, no!” Seb pleaded. “It’s ok, it’s ok! Waanndaaaa!”

She entered the bathroom and sighed. “Well, looks like they don’t like baths, too bad.” She leaned down to help and together, the new parents bathed their children. Wanda frowned. “Is the water too hot? Too cold? What’s wrong baby?”

Of course dialoguing with the babies didn’t work. Seb ran away and brought some pacifiers. Zoe accepted it, but Zully was still sobbing. “Pleeaseeee!! Baby please, stop!!” Seb’s hands flickered with blue flames in distress. Zully couldn’t see that well, they were only 2 months old, but that fire felt warm and nice. Seb stared at his hand touching Zully’s belly, and the finger Zully caught to suckle on. “She likes my fire!” Seb exclaimed in awe. “And she wasn’t hurt by it!”

They finished bathing them extremely carefully, put diapers on them, cute onesies that were still huge for them, fed them, burped them, and laid them down in their shared crib, Seb was still happy that his kids were fireproof. The two turned off the light and passed out on their bed, still fully dressed up.

Suddenly (it felt like suddenly to the exhausted parents, but it was really a few hours later), the babies started wailing loudly. Sebastian and Wanda whimpered and groaned. They’ll never have a peaceful night of sleep ever again, will they?

The babies screamed louder.

\--------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mizuuma: The nightmare sequence was by me :D


	4. CHAPTER 3:  Living with twins + A meeting with family, one of many

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Children will be children, and sleep deprived parents will be sleep deprived.  
> Also, everyone needs therapy. They dooooo~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Wiii enjoy! Ill soon add pictures of how the little blond twins look for you to see how adorable they are!

**CHAPTER 3:  Living with twins + A meeting with family, one of many**

 ---

Zoe was a _very_ demanding child. She would pull anything nearby into her mouth, biting everything and everyone. And she wasn't even teething yet (which was lucky for all the unfortunate people she slobbered on). Zoe wanted constant attention, screaming whenever she was left alone for too long. They would go check to see if she was hungry or wanted her diaper changed, but no, Zoe just wanted to be held, the little attention seeker. (HM! Wanda wondering just WHO was like that). Seb had to just hold her in one arm as he worked on his designs for clients. It wasn’t impossible, but it got harder when Zoe started squirming more. Also, she liked to pull off his eyepatch. She seemed very curious about the little hole in his face.

Zully was a good child. Quieter and calmer. They didn't complain as much and didn't try to bite the people trying to hold them. That was a huge relief for Seb since he could simply place Zully on a large pillow facing him and his oldest child would just be content to watch him work. Zully only cried when Seb or Wanda weren't in their line of sight. Damn lack of object permanence.

However, despite how different they were and how hard it was sometimes to deal with the two of them, Seb wouldn’t change it for anything else in the world. They were his babies, his, and that made them PERFECT. 

Seb loved spending time with the infants, he would lay them down on bed and curl up next to them protectively, stroking their tummies and little faces.The fact that Wanda was at home too made everything even more perfect! She said at work that she was going to take 4 months before fully returning. The twins had been in the hospital for around 2 months, and now that they were home, Wanda finally took that maternity leave. She was still going to work from home or she’ll get stressed with piled work, but they both wanted to make their time with the babies extra special.

But Seb knew Wanda was a very stubborn woman and despite what her mother thought, Wanda wasn’t taking time off work and making this special for HER. “Wanda Friedmann. Pull that baby off your breast right now!” He ordered. She was in pain and he wasn’t going to allow that! Wanda continued to be in pain when breastfeeding. Sebastian and everyone else were getting worried. "We have the special formula from the hospital, you don't need to…" Seb told her as he tried to get her to stop.

“Sebastian, it’s ok~” She smiled as she adjusted a very hungry Zully, who had been feeding for a long while and didn’t seem to want to let go anytime soon. They were waiting for more yummy food to reach their mouth, this wasn’t enough. “It’s fine, I can do it. Breastfeeding is much better for their immune system anyway.”

“But it hurts you, I-I don’t think-” “I searched it on the internet, it’s happened to other women and then it went away.” Her reassurement was accompanied by a grimace of pain. _Zully, please for God’s sake,_ **_gentle_ **.

“But-But Wanda, I am really worried for you, please-” “Sebastian! STOP IT.” She didn’t shout, just spoke loudly, like she did when she wanted to make her point across in court. Seb was taken aback by the loud voice. He winced a bit as he stepped back a few steps. “Ok...I-I’m sorry…” He whispered. Zoe-Zoe needed a bottle, he-he was going to make her one...He didn’t mean to make Wanda angry, he was just trying to help. Why did he always make everything WORSE?! Seb still spoke again. “Look, those other women said the pain went away, but you’ve been in pain for nearly two months!” He tried to make her see reason, she was being dismissive about something that caused her pain and…

...and… oh. OH. This must have been what Wanda had felt like when she found him hurting himself.

Oh. OH. Sebastian blinked. He… he understood now. So this was what it felt like. It felt awful. And Wanda continued to be stubborn, not wanting to believe there was something wrong. Oh geez. He finally got it. He did! Sebastian stared at Wanda. “Have YOU been going to your therapy sessions?” He asked carefully.

Wanda cried softly at one particularly sharp pain in her breast and looked at Seb. Zully whined as they suckled. They were hungry!! Why wasn’t warm food coming more?!

The woman paled. Shit.

“Eh, well, I was looking for a good one and, and…” Wanda stammered. Seb grinned and grabbed Zoe from her crib to swung her little feet at Wanda’s face. “No oh~~! You just haven’t been going! You nasty liar!” He grinned deviously. “Don’t play like that with our daughter and no! I didn’t lie! I’ll go! Seriously! I just didn’t have time before!” And she wasn’t lying. She had been a little nervous after the pregnancy but Seb’s situation was WAY more important.

Seb climbed onto the couch and crouched there, Zoe still in his arms, rocking her slightly. “I clean, cook, work, study AND go to my sessions!” He stuck his tongue out.

He didn’t impulsively pulled Zully away from Wanda's chest because he reasoned that would make Wanda hurt and Zully to cry for losing their meal. “Wanda, you have to be in a good mental state to raise our daughters~” he singsonged teasingly. Wanda’s jaw dropped. “Are you--?!”

“If you aren’t in a good mental state, I mi~ght tell your dear mother about it~” Sebastian grinned, flashing his sharp teeth like the little demon he was. Wanda paled. “You wouldn’t DARE!” The look on Seb’s face told her that he wasn’t joking. Wanda pouted. “Fine! But we’ll need to bring the kids with us to our therapy sessions if no one’s home to look after them.”

“Agreed. So, it’s a Deal~?” Seb asked as he extended his hand, on fire. Wanda pouted at the fire but still shook hands with Seb before kissing his lips. There wasn't much to talk about anyway. She bet she was just stressed for the twins' health and that made it hurt so a few sessions with a therapist will make the pain go away and prove to Seb she had nothing really serious. She huffed as she pulled away from the kiss. This man. Trying to even compare himself to her. Their situations were not similar. At. ALL.

Zully pulled away, sweating slightly and exhausted. They were still hungry but the baby had to resign themselves because now they were more tired than hungry. Oblivious, Seb and Wanda put Zully to sleep before giving Zoe a bottle.

\--.---

Wanda finally went to her therapy. It was in the morning but she wanted to take the babies. It went actually pretty well. She talked about how scary it was for her, the idea of being pregnant to begin with and how terrified she had been of having a miscarriage several months into the pregnancy. She shed a few tears but knew it wasn’t her fault it happened. They discussed the pain she felt when trying to feed the kids, her therapist looked worried. “Wanda, that… what you’re describing doesn’t sound psychosomatic… I think you need to see a doctor about this.”

“What?” Wanda asked. “B-but…” She hugged Zoe to herself and frowned. “Th-there’s nothing wrong with me.” She protested. The therapist sighed. “And that, I believe, is the basis for your stress. At least get yourself checked out, just in case, it might be nothing, but you might feel better if you knew for sure one way or another. If there is something wrong with your physical health, then it’ll affect your children too.”

That finally made Wanda agree. She… she didn’t want to make her babies sick if there WAS something wrong. She booked an appointment with her doctor right away.

It was June 12th, and the same day of her appointment, Zully fell ill, they were crying their eyes out and had a high fever. Seb drove like crazy and took their little child to the ER, as Wanda held Zoe tightly. Wanda didn’t need the appointment anymore.

“Your daughter is malnourished.” The pediatric doctor informed them. Seb shook his head and growled. “No, you’re _lying_ , we follow every procedure we were given and they eat regularly! They drink breast milk.”

“Yes, well, then I think that’s the problem.” The man took off his glasses. “I don’t think your partner is producing milk. Or, possibly, she’s clogged and the children can’t get as much milk as they should.” Zully got an IV as the doctor called a gynecologist to examine Wanda and run some tests on her.

They stayed in the hospital all day. Zully felt much better that night, and babbled loudly at their twin who was laid down next to them. Wanda was given her results at night too. “Ms. Friedmann, you’ve got IGT.”

“What’s that?” Wanda asked, eyes wide as she held Seb’s hand tightly. “It’s a condition where you don’t have much mammary tissue, you don’t produce much milk, which means your children have to suck twice as hard to try and get at your milk, which likely caused your pain. Besides, you have clogged milk ducts, mainly from your condition.”

Seb, always speaking at the right time, asked in confusion. “How...how can she...have such big breasts and yet they don’t have milk?” Wanda facepalmed and the doctor raised an eyebrow, amused. “Breasts are mammary tissue AND fatty tissue, sir. Ms. Friedmann has more fatty tissue.” “Oh…”

Wanda rolled her eyes and looked at the doctor. “So what-what can I do?” Wanda asked tearfully. She had been starving her children from being so damn stubborn!! She hadn’t been fine! Urgh! How could she have been so careless?! The doctor gave her a gentle smile. “There’s nothing you can do, but it’s not wrong, you’ll just have to feed your children with bottles instead. Formula is a thing, and it will still feed your children, maybe even more than right now.”

Wanda nodded, gazing at Zully sadly. She was such a terrible mother, how hadn’t she noticed that Zully was hungry? That her babies were hungry because she hadn’t been able to give them what they needed? She didn’t cry until the doctor left them alone in the ER room.

“Oh my god, please, please, no.” Seb pleaded when Wanda curled up on herself in the chair.

“I should have listened to you before…”

“No one listens to me, it’s fine…” Seb said jokingly, but Wanda just sobbed a bit more. They left the hospital really late. The twins got some vitamins to take and Wanda was given a pill to cut the stupidly low milk supply she had, it was going to free her from the pain in her breasts too. They were going to simply bottle feed the children, it was better for them.

Wanda didn’t sleep well that night and while Sebastian, passed out, hugged her, she decided she needed the therapist more than ever.

\---.--

“UNCLE SEB! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” Mabel screamed the moment Seb picked up the phone. His ears rang for a second. His birthday? What time was it? 6am. What day was today? Was it was the 15th already?! “Oh! Thanks Shooting Star! Did you call Fez and Sixer already?” He rubbed his eye. Always thinking in his brothers first. “Nopey! You’re the first~! What are you going to do for your birthday?! We’re all on vacation! We can visit you forever! Can we stay with you all summer again? Dillon wants to come as well!”

Seb groaned loudly, making Wanda groan as well. “Noo~ I don’t want you anymore~ I have my own twins now, you are of no more use to me!”

“RUDE!” The girl exclaimed from the other side and Seb laughed loudly. “I’m kidding, I’d love to see you all again, it’s been a while…” He sighed when the twins whimpered from their crib, also awake. He heard Mabel gasp. “I HAVE AN IDEA! BYEEE!” Mabel hung up.

Seb blinked and threw his phone away before making the twins float to their bed. Zoe and Zully’s eyes widened at the weird sensation. What-What was going on?! They whined and Seb carefully put them between Wanda and himself. “Good morning, princesses~Who slept almost all night like very good girls?!” He kissed their tiny noses. The two laughed and lifted their arms to grab at his nose and hair.

“AH! Ow! Nooooo!” Seb winced as they pulled on his long disheveled fluffy hair. He really needed to go to the salon soon. His cries of pain only made the little demons squeal and pull harder, well, Zoe did at least. Zully, the good child, let go and began patting Seb’s face with a tiny hand instead, finding his nose and goatee very interesting.

Wanda yawned, and saved Seb from Zoe’s little, but extremely strong hands. “Come on~ Daddy can’t go bald so soon~” She kissed Zoe’s forehead before leaning towards Seb. “Happy birthday, honey~” “Thanks…” “You’re getting old~” “HEy!

After eating breakfast and putting everything away, Seb received another call. “Yellow?” “UNCLE SEB!” It was Mabel again but he heard Dipper this time too. “Ok, everything is sorted out! You wanted to see your brothers no??” “Yes?” “BOOM! DONE! We’re all going to Gravity Falls AGAIN! Isn’t that amazing?!”

“I’ll show Dad the town’s monsters!” Dipper exclaimed too. “He doesn’t believe me!” Seb thought back to when Shermie learned about his powers, and Seb had to explain to him about it when he started feeling better. And Shermie still didn’t believe Dipper?

“Going to Gravity Falls?”

“Uncle Ford said he’s fine with it! He wants us to see the research center too! Mom and Dad say they can only stay 2 weeks but we will make it the best 2 weeks ever and GASP! You can present the twins to everyone! Candy and Grenda will be SO happy to meet them!”

Seb smiled widely, getting more and more excited with the idea. “Sure thing Pinetree, Shooting Star. We can go around and introduce the kids to everyone!” He turned to grin at Zully, poking their little belly and making them squeal. Wanda was quiet through it. “Can we go pack our bags now?!” Seb asked, bouncing in place.

“Do you really want to go to that town…?” She asked softly. Seb nodded eagerly. “I mean, I love that town!...Why? You don’t want to go? It’s weird but its not terrible or anything.” Wanda hugged Zoe to her chest. “I'm scared…”

“Of the town?” Seb asked, really confused. Wanda shook her head. ”Of going…” She still had nightmares of that pilot’s twisted, insane grin and that plane crash...She took a deep breath. “That triangle man thing…”

Seb’s look hardened. “What did he do.” “Um, one time he threatened me…He didn't want me to go into town...I-I tried going by plane, at the last minute I didn't...and that plane crashed…The bus caught on fire, the road was closed by a car crash...He-He was keeping me away from you…I swear I would have gone sooner if-if I wasn’t so _scared…"_

Seb sighed and pulled her and the twins towards him in a hug. “Bill can’t hurt you, not anymore, Wands. I made sure of it. I killed him, he’s gone. He can’t hurt you or the babies...” He rubbed her face like a cat and Wanda giggled. “Come on~ It’s my birthdaaay~” He said sweetly. He wanted to go to Sandrita’s salon. They KNEW what color he liked and how he liked it.  

“Alright...I trust you.” Wanda kissed his nose.

They bought plane tickets for a couple of hours later, so they rushed around the house in a frenzy. Clothes for them, clothes for babies, bottles for babies, formula for babies, diapers for babies, baby carriers for babies, the babies! And then screamed their way to the airport. They even forgot to tell Wanda’s parents they were leaving. They would call later!

They gave the twins some pacifiers and hoped for the best. They knew babies cried on planes...And the twins were no exception. At first, Zoe and Zully wailed their eyes out and some people complained at them.

“I’ll shut YOU up!!” Seb snarled at the man demanding him to ‘shut his brats up’. Wanda calmed him before he punched that man. The two kept rocking then until suddenly he had an idea. With a little flame in his finger, barely visible to the rest of passengers, he waved it in front of the twins’ eyes. “Sh, sh, sh…”

It worked.

It actually worked! The twins concentrated on sucking his disinfected fingers and trying to eat the fire, all without getting a single burn. Finally, they fell asleep on a sleeping Seb’s chest. Wanda took a photo and smiled proudly. Those were her babies. She saw Seb’s finger still on fire and casually blew it out.

\---

The flight took way too long for the new parents’ liking, but eventually the plane landed. The twins ears popped and the poor babies cried the entire time from the arrival gates to the bus to town. “God, kids! Stoppp!!” Seb cried as well. Wanda sighed and rubbed her temples. All aboard for headache town, population: two, them.

Two more bottles were prepared for the bus trip and the twins shut up and drank happily, staring at their tired parents with wide brown and green eyes. “You’re horrible babies…” Seb sighed as he rocked Zoe. Zoe responded with a big smile, baby drool and milk streaming from her mouth into his hand. “Eeewww… you’re SO lucky I love you!” Seb shuddered. AH! It was getting on his nice shirt!!! Wanda rolled her eyes. “Maybe you should stop wearing your fancy clothes while feeding the kids?”

Seb shuddered. “You mean like...I have to wear… DAD clothes?!” He wailed. Wanda giggled. “Well~ Your dad status needs to match your clothes~! Those fancy clothes are for single men with no babies!” Zully let out a loud shriek, as if supporting their mommy.

Seb grimaced. “What? Should I wear glasses and sweaters-vests and t-shirts? Grow a mustache, wear male tanks with pictures of alligators? Shorts and Polo shirts?!” Wanda burst out laughing and failed to muffle her guffaws. Seb wasn't finding this funny at all. “And you need a beer belly to be complete~! Hahahaha!” Wanda snorted, falling to lean against her bus seat.

Seb huffed loudly, wiping Zoe’s mouth with a bib. “I’m NEVER gonna get a beer belly!” He was disgusted at the very thought! Uh… didn’t the old man Stanley in his past life have a beer belly? Gross~ He wasn’t going to let himself go like that! Or his brothers. He’ll protect them from ugliness.

“Well, if you annoy me, I will annoy you too! Because you’re a mom now~” Seb cleared his throat. “You need to start wearing leggings and drive a mini-van. You need to go to yoga classes with a bunch of other mothers in the neighborhood…”

Wanda groaned. “Seb!”

“And girl, you need to get a haircut, because that style is not ‘mom’ enough!”

“Noooo!” Wanda cried and covered her hair. Then Seb gasped and grinned deviously. “And you need to be on FacePost posting things like~~” He started burping Zoe.

“No. NO. Don’t say it!” Wanda wailed. Seb leaned to whisper. “Like minion memes~”

“AAAAHHHHHH!!” Wanda screamed, startling the babies and making Sebastian laugh out loud and kick the seat in front of him. “I’ll NEVER do that!” Wanda cried. “HAHAHAHA!! You’ll have to complain to the manager every time!” Seb snorted. “Well! Then you’ll go all fat and scratch your belly on the couch while drinking!!” Wanda shot back. “HOW DARE YOU?!” Seb gasped in pure shock.

The people in the bus started groaning and the bus driver called. “Sir, madam, please be quiet, you are making everyone else uncomfortable.”

“Oof! Don’t tell Wanda that! She’ll go complain your manager now~” Seb said solemnly. Wanda whined and slapped his arm lightly. “STOP IT!” As very good babies, the twins started babbling loudly, just like mommy and daddy! They’ll be SO proud that they can be just as loud as them!

The Pines were practically kicked out of the bus as soon as the water tower of the town was seen. This bus didn’t go directly to the Mystery Shack/National Institute of Oddology and Science Investigation. Ford and Fiddleford were very special for giving things long names. They were going to change it to “International” once they got the support of other countries.

So, now that the bus kicked them out, after laughing themselves crazy, they pulled out the baby carriers and each one of them carried a twin. “So~ This is Gravity Falls, huh?” The twins yawned, making Wanda chuckle. “Yup! And you see? Everything went fine!”

“To be fair, I got distracted by the girls crying the ENTIRE flight so I didn’t remember to worry about the plane falling...”

Seb waved a hand dismissively. “Even if the plane stopped working, I’d be able to keep it floating.” Wanda raised an eyebrow. “You CAN?” Seb shrugged. “I guess so, I can make anything float with my mind, I’m sure than if I concentrated hard enough I could, but I’d surely pass out shortly after, it would take a shit ton of energy to do that.” Why was he even worrying about that? He’ll never have to make a plane stay afloat! Not unless something really, REALLY bad happened but… best not to think about that.

He turned to look down at Zoe, who was waving her arms uncoordinatedly because her cute headband was falling and making her uncomfortable. “Oh you don’t like the headband your sweet cousin knit for you?!” Seb pulled it off and put it on Zully’s head. “Well, I’m sure your sister will appreciate it more! Won’t you, princess~” Seb cooed at Zully who just tilted their head. WHAT did they have on their head?! They could feel it but not see it! Ahhhh!??!?!

Wanda simply rolled her eyes and looked around, taking in at her surroundings. It looked like...a normal, if not kind of boring town, did they all seriously go through the apocalypse thing Seb told her about? It certainly didn’t look like it. Her stomach growled and she pouted. She...didn't have to eat to produce a supply of milk anymore (her fau-no, it wasn’t her fault), but she still needed to eat.

“You know, I doubt there’d be food at the Shack, so how about having lunch at the Diner?” Seb offered his hungry girlfriend. “A...A friend works there.” Wanda agreed. “Alright!” She paused and smiled. “You see? Another friend!”

“She’s more like an acquaintance really.” The man shrugged. Wanda laughed and hugged his arm to walk in the direction of the Diner. She was very surprised when a few people waved at Seb and even approached to say hi to him and meet her. A huge lumberjack thumped over and Wanda’s eyes went wide at the sight of him towering over everyone around them. “WELCOME BACK! YOU’VE GOT BABIES!!!!” The man thundered as he bent down to pick up Wanda’s boyfriend in a hug.

“N-nice to see you again too, Dan!” Seb winced a little at the hug. He didn’t know how, but he was hugging him without crushing Zoe. Well, giving him credit, Dan had 4 kids, and the 4 of them were babies at some point so he guessed Dan could be careful and gentle when he wanted.

Zoe didn’t like having this stranger so close though, so she cried, pulling at Dan’s red haired beard. The huge man didn’t even notice. Dan turned to look at Wanda and nodded. “He’s a good man! He saved everyone!!” Wanda blinked. “O-okay?”

A sheriff called out, “He’s our town hero!” And his deputy cheered. Wanda smiled. “Well, he’s MY hero too.” She kissed Seb’s cheek once Dan put him back down. “My wonderful knight in a yellow tuxedo~” She cooed.

“WANDAAAA! Ssttoppp!” Seb blushed hard. He wanted to find a hole and crawl inside. Blubs gave them a ride to the Diner, after asking to see the twins of course! The two cooed at the twins, who were starting to yawn. They were very little though, and seeing so much made them tired, they needed to process everything.

Everyone smiled and waved at Seb when they entered and despite how hard he was blushing, Wanda knew he was enjoying the attention. It was ok, she loved how LOVED Sebas was in this town. She would live here just for Seb to receive and feel all the love he deserved...The twins eventually fell asleep so Seb simply unfolded their stroller (it was pretty cool, a gift from Ford’s friend, she hoped to meet him too) and laid them there before taking a seat.

“Oh my Gosh!! Is that you?!” Wanda smiled at a woman with blue hair gasping at Seb. Geez, and he said people didn't like him? He had an entire town smiling at HIM. Seb grinned. “Hi Susan. Long time no see, huh?” Susan smiled before her eyes drifted over to Wanda and she seemed to wilt in place. But before Wanda could ask the woman what was wrong, Susan’s eye spotted the sleeping babies and her face lit up. “Oh my god! Are these the little darlings?”

“Haha, yeah, our daughters! They were due next month but they were really impatient to meet everyone!” Seb smiled even wider, the same handsome smile that drove Wanda and Susan crazy. “Zoe and Zully.”  Susan crouched to look closer at the sleeping babies. “They’re so pretty…” She took a deep breath before looking up at Seb, being hugged by Wanda. It...It was fine. She just wanted Sebas to be happy...even if it was with another woman. “You must be Wanda.” Susan smiled sadly. The chef and other waiters smiled sadly at their co-worker. It must be hurting her, but it was for the best, Seb had a girlfriend and he was a father now.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The blonde extended a hand to shake. Susan gave her a small smile and shook it. She and Seb ordered lunch and chatted with some of the locals, Sebastian introduced Wanda to everyone and everyone was delighted by her. Wanda poked his shoulder. “You, have PLENTY of friends.” She declared.

Seb rubbed his head sheepishly. Yeah, he guessed… he kinda did…

As the crowd dispersed, Seb blinked when he caught sight of a certain someone. “Gideon?” He groaned. The child looked up at him and gave him a superior look, the kind of egotistical expression that always got on Seb’s nerves. “Well, well, Sebastian Pines, looks like you came back.” Gideon jeered. Seb sighed. “Well, that just ruined my birthday, thank you…” He turned away to try and ignore the white haired kid.

Wanda gasped. “Seb. How could you say that to a ten year old?”

Seb scoffed. He didn’t like Gideon, or Bud. He didn’t like the Gleeful. “I hate him.” Wanda frowned. “He’s a _child_.” To make things worse, the kid smugly walked over towards him and Seb hit his head against the table. “Thanks Wanda! Now he’s coming over!”

“Oh geesh! You had kids so fast?!” Gideon gasped when he saw the twins sleeping in their stroller. They were kinda cute, he had to admit. He wanted to poke their cheeks before he was suddenly lifted into the air and floated away from the stroller by a snarling Seb. He had missed using his powers in public! “Keep your greasy hands off my daughters, want to kidnap them as well?!”

“Sounds like a fun idea-Ah!! Kidding!!” Gideon squeaked when Seb almost hit him with the ketchup bottle. Wanda had stopped him. “Oof! I see your wife is nice! Not like you! She must be blind to be with you.”

“Do I have to remind you who saved your butt from becoming a tapestry last summer? It was ME!”

“Oh, hehe! Didn’t you hear, Sebastian? Nevermind all that!” Gideon patted his cheek. Seb growled angrily as the kid raised his hands. “Hey~ I’m being good~I am in the process for my change of heart, remember?”

“Change of heart you say…” Seb scoffed. Gideon’s eyes widened in realization. “Uh~ If you’re here, that means my sweet Mabel is coming as well?!”

Seb managed to grin. “Yup, with her dad, a black belt. Show your face in my brother’s house, and I’ll tell him to kick you!” Seb’s growled, his eye flashing slightly red and his hand caught on fire. Gideon murmured something under his breath and went back to his table, with his hands tightly fisted.

As soon as he was gone, Seb buried his face into Wanda’s chest. “I hate him.” “You do realize you are fighting with a child, right?” Wanda commented wryly. “He’s my enemy.” Seb complained. “He’s like, 10.” Wanda repeated. “And he tried to kill me and the twins, like _twice_ , last summer!” Wanda was sure Seb was exaggerating. He tended to do so.

Still, that was… interesting. “So you’ve got enemies as well as friends?” Wanda asked as she ate her sandwich. Seb nodded. “I have a few other enemies, but they shouldn’t cause us any trouble. One of them is a mean unicorn, I burnt her tail because she insulted Ma-Ewww!” Wanda snorted her drink out of her nose at the casual declaration.

While Seb took his sweet time to get to the Shack, the rest of his family was already in the house.

(happy cousins)

Mabel was pulling Dillon around the house after they all posed for the photo and Dipper dragged their dad off. “Look! Here we watched movies! And Waddles loved to rub his back on this carpet! Aaw~ Look at him! He missed it!”

“Mabel, you do realize it’s not my first time in town, right?” Dillon raised an eyebrow. Mabel stopped. “It’s not?”

Dillon put his hands in his pockets and went to sit on the couch like he owned the place. “Mom and I visited Uncle Seb like, every summer since I was little. It was YOUR first time in town.” Mabel pouted before smiling again. “Well! But you didn’t see any magical creatures! We did! I’ll show ya! Maybe the gnomes are easier to find… We had a bad moment at the beginning of last summer but I think we’re cool now!” She pulled Dillon to his feet and dragged him out of the house by his arm. “Come on! Dipper is with my Dad in the forest!” Dillon let her guide him. THAT sounded interesting!

“Be careful with my kid!” Stan shouted at Mabel. “No promises!” the teenage girl shot back.

Shermie was sitting on a rock, watching his youngest kid pace back and forth. “Urgh! I can’t remember which direction it was! Think! Height altering crystals! Or wait! We can meet the Multibear! Haha! I’m sure he’d love to meet you!”

Shermie grimaced, worried. What. What was he EVEN talking about? “Kiddo, I’m hungry. Can we go now?”

“No! First we’re meeting him and the Manotaurs, they were here in the forest around this time of day last summer!” Dipper protested. Shermie raised an eyebrow. He still didn’t believe there were magical creatures and what not. Sure, his older brother had magical fire powers or something, but that was… some kinda psychic power thing right? He moved things with his mind too, so it’s like the martial artists in Chinese movies who could shoot energy blasts and stuff?

“Hi Dipper! Hi Dad! I brought Dillon to explore the place and see cool magical creatures!” Shermie sighed as the kids dragged him away from the house. He sent the direction they came from a longing look. They had been making sandwiches for the party later...

The group of four walked around the forest for a while and to the twins’ surprise, they didn’t see a SINGLE creature. Dipper was getting frustrated, Shermie was getting annoyed and hungry. “I don’t get it! Where is everybody!” The creatures were going to come out, but they saw the twins with strangers, so decided not to risk it.

“Kiddo~ I’m sure we can invite BigFoot to the triplets’ birthday party~ At. _Home_.” Shermie gave him a strained smile.

“We haven’t seen Big Foot here…” Mabel said. Silly Dad~

“Ok, that’s it~” Shermie grabbed Dipper and easily threw him over his shoulder. The twins have grown up in a year, but Shermie was still a very strong young man in his late 20’s and he could easily carry a scrawny 13 year old. “But-But!! You gotta trust me!” Dipper wailed. “Ask Uncle Ford!”

“I’ll ask him when he realizes we are invading his home for _his_ birthday.” They had called them early in the morning to say hi, and Ford seriously hadn’t come out of the research center. It must be a paradise to nerds in there.

Mabel and Dillon followed Shermie back to the house. “Don’t worry, Dipper’s telling the truth! We’ll show you eventually.” She said and the older teen smirked. “You MUST!” He wished more than ever that his mom had let him stay for the summer instead of quick visits. Seeing all types of magical creatures must have been SO COOL!

“Oh thank God! The house! Finally some food!!” Shermie trotted faster towards the house but abruptly stopped when he spotted two people in the front yard. “Heya, Shermie! And I thought you were glad to see me!” Seb gave him a lopsided grin. “SEB!” Shermie laughed, always getting excited like a little kid when he saw his big brother. The man and young teens gave Seb and Wanda some hugs. ““”Happy birthday, Uncle Seb!””” Dillon and Mabel clung to his legs, Dipper didn’t, he was more MATURE than those two!

“Hii! Urgh, I missed you, brats!” Mabel pulled away and ran towards Wanda who was gently picking the twins up from their stroller, they were stirring and whimpering slightly. “Auntie Wanda, can I carry the twins now? They are a bit bigger now, so that means I can, right?” The blonde agreed but only after Mabel washed her hands, so Mabel sprinted back into the house.

Everyone got inside and Seb opened his arms widely. “Don’t cry everybody! Your god has arrived!”  “Ugh! Who needs you here?” Stan laughed and gave his short brother a noogie. “Well then, I won’t wish you happy birthday!” Seb stuck his tongue out.

Wanda rocked the whimpering twins as she stared at Stan and Seb. Gosh, Seb was so SHORT compared to Stanley! How hadn’t she noticed before?! She cooed. Aaaww! That made him even cuter~~

Stan looked over and laughed. “Aww~ look at the little beans!” He strode over and grinned at them. The twins blinked blearily up at the man. Huh? When did daddy change colors? Zully stuck a hand in their mouth while Zoe glared up at Stan. She didn’t like daddy’s haircut. She made sure they all knew, opening her mouth and crying as she scrunched up her little face and told everyone of her displeasure at daddy’s short hair.

“Z-Zoe?!” Wanda wasn’t sure why her daughter was crying. Seb scoffed and pushed Stan aside. “You scared her with your ugly mug!” He complained. Stan looked offended. “Hey! We’ve got the same face!"

Seb cooed at his daughter, “Aww, it’s alright, Zoe~ I won’t let the ugly man near you~” He ignored Stan’s protests in the background. Zoe blinked and stopped crying in shock. Daddy’s hair was back to normal? She reached out and pulled on it, just to be sure. “Ow!” Zoe giggled. Yup. It was daddy’s nice (and very fun to pull) long hair. “Ow~ Zoe~” Seb whined as he tried to extract his golden locks from her tight grip. Zully reached out to pat daddy’s nose. Poor daddy. It was his own fault for being so fun to pull on.

Dillon’s face fell when he spotted his dad. Especially when he saw the way his dad was cooing over uncle Seb’s babies. Like the way he was going to dote on Dillon’s new baby brother too. Dillon huffed and stomped out of the room. Mabel looked at him with a worried expression. Dipper saw it too and the twins gave each other a nod before following their cousin, leaving the adults to squeal over the babies in the living room.

Mabel caught up to Dillon and patted his arm. “Hey? Are you alright?” Dillon sighed. “You know how my mom’s pregnant?” The twins nodded, it was amazing news, their dad was teasing uncle Stan about it. Dillon leaned against the wall and slid down until he was sitting. “I don’t like it.”

Mabel looked confused. “What? Why? You’re gonna get a baby sibling! That’s gonna be adorable! I’ve wanted a little sibling since forever!” Too bad they traumatized their parents too young to even consider the possibility..

“That’s the problem!” Dillon huffed. “Mom and dad are gonna be busy taking care of them. And… I…” He buried his face on his legs, pulled up to his chest. “I just got my dad back, but now he’s gonna be spending his time with THEM and i-ignore me be-ecause I’m not a baby that h-he’ll get to raise!” Dillon was trying hard not to cry but he couldn’t hold it in. He hadn’t told ANYONE but Uncle Seb about this, but Dipper and Mabel were his cousins, he was sure he could trust them with this...

Mabel gasped.”Uncle Stan wouldn’t do that! He loves you!” She knelt down beside her cousin and hugged him tightly. Dillon sniffled. “He’ll love THEM more!” Mabel hugged him tighter. “No he won’t. Uncle Stan loves you so, SO much! He was up late trying to plan the perfect way to meet you!”

Dipper laughed a little. “Mabel even gave him ideas, but he didn’t take those.” Mabel pouted. “Gliding down from a helicopter with fireworks in the background spelling out ‘I AM YOUR FATHER’ would have been amazing!”

“Y-Yeah...That actually sounds awesome…” Dillon laughed a little. To be fair, if his dad really HAD done that, Dillon would have thought he was being Ker-Pranked or something.

“And Uncle Stan spent ALL his time last summer learning about you. He would watch videos and photos and Uncle Seb would tell him all about you so he was prepared to meet you.” Dipper patted his shoulder kindly. “And, think about it...He’ll get stressed with a baby because they’ll cry and cry.”

“Yeah! And eat a lot and poop and he’ll have to change dirty diapers!” Mabel added. “You are the COOL one! He can play baseball with you and talk about cool stuff, you can’t talk to a baby like that!” Dillon smiled. “Yeah, you’re right. I just… I just can’t help but feel like I’m being… replaced, you know?” He shook his head. “Of course, I KNOW that’s not what they’re doing, mom and dad just can’t keep it in their pants, is all…”

Dipper and Mabel choked, blushing madly. “Di-Dillon!” Dipper squeaked and the older boy giggled. “What? It’s not the stork who brings babies, Dipper!” He made a VERY suggestive hand gesture with a devilish grin, and the twins screamed. Oh, teasing them was so fun~ They were still babies. Dillon grinned like the devil himself, he WAS mainly raised by Carla and Seb after all.

Downstairs, everyone was chilling in the living room, waiting for Soos to finish his tour to come say hi to his friend. Seb was feeding the twins with Stan’s help (“Yeah, you just hold their heads like that and make sure they’re drinking it slowly or they’ll start coughing), as Wanda cooed over Carla.

“Your belly is so small compared to mine~! It’s not fair!” Wanda complained with a smile. Carla rubbed her belly, much to Kari’s disappointment, their baby was a boy. “Well, he’s alone in there.”

“Do you have a name already?” Wanda asked. It was funny. Carla was around the same month she had when the twins were born and yet, their son didn’t seem in the mood to come out yet. She was glad, it was a pretty traumatic experience. It was good that THIS baby was going to keep to the normal schedule.

“Nah, but it must be a D name, to match with Dillon’s!” Stan called over from his side of the couch. “D’Bryano!” Seb exclaimed, and received a smack on the head. “Ow! Uh… D...Dio?” He tried instead. Stan made a face. “Ugh, no, that sounds like a vampire or something.” Carla patted her belly. “How about Diego?”

Stan thought about it. “That’s a nice name, I like it.” “Are you sure you don't want something cooler?”  Seb questioned. Carla smiled when Diego moved. She was calmer with her pregnancy than Wanda, it wasn’t her first one after all. “Nah, he likes it.”

“Dudes! I brought Dr. Pines!” Soos’ proud voice called their attention and they all turned to see Melody and Soos pulling Ford by his arm.  Ford’s face was covered in ash and his hair was standing up. “Soos!! Never come into my lab!!! What have-” The scientist stopped, seeing the large group of people in his living room. “Huh?”

“Hi Sixer! Happy Birthday, Uncle Sixer~” Seb waved Zully’s hand and made a baby voice. The baby wrinkled their nose. WHAT? They didn’t understand how Daddy could be in so many places at once!

“When did you all come?” Ford took off his protective goggles and smiled before saying hi to everyone.

“Hours ago, you were just TOO busy for your family~” Seb said before handing Wanda his daughter. “Question Mark!!!” Seb roared and threw himself over the man wearing a suit, an eyepatch and the red fez Stan suggested to add to his look.

“DUDE!” Soos laughed and hugged his friend tightly. He had missed him so much! It’d been a year! “Where-Where are the little dudettes?! I want to see them!”

Seb grabbed his twins once again and presented them to his friend like the proud papa he was. Soos’ eyes welled up with happy tears when Zoe yawned, showing her still teethless (and fangless) little mouth. “Nyah…”

“Oh, dude~” Melody hugged Soos when he started sobbing. “It’s ok, Soos~It’s ok~” She patted his back. Soos sniffled. “They’re perfect dude!” The large man was overwhelmed by emotion and had to sit down. Seb promised to let him hold them once he had calmed down.

The older twins and Dillon came downstairs and after saying hi to their mad scientist uncle, Mabel exclaimed. “We’re going to find our friends! See ya!” Shermie and Abi stood up and asked if they needed to be taken somewhere.

“Nah, we’ll just walk to town.” Dipper shrugged and the teens left. Shermie gaped like a fish, “My babies…just ditched me!”, and Seb rolled his eyes. “They know this town better than me, I think, they’ll be fine.” He would check on them now and then with his Eye just to be sure…

He wasn’t too worried about any of the supernatural creatures harming them, they were town heroes for getting rid of Bill last year after all. They were friends with some of them too. Besides...Wow, the twins and Dillon were turning 14 when the summer ended...Four-fucking-teen...He hugged Zoe to his chest. _Please don’t grow up so fast..._

They all had lunch together, talking and laughing about how their lives were going so far, about the babies, upcoming babies, and the teens and how fast they grow.

Wanda grumbled as Zoe once again tried to pull open her shirt. “Zoe~ Stop!” She whined. Carla grinned softly. “Do you want me to kick everyone out, girl?” Wanda winced a bit. “Ah-no, it’s alright...I’ll just prepare a bottle…” She gave her a sheepish smile. Carla frowned, confused and looked at Seb. “You, explain.” Seb chewed his food slower. “Um...The doctor told Wanda she can’t breastfeed anymore and took a pill to make it stop...That was like, 2 days ago?”

Carla’s eyes widened and she covered her mouth. “Shit, I’m so sorry!” She gazed at her friend in sympathy. “So there was something wrong after all?” She asked. Wanda nodded silently, measuring out the formula and getting some hot water from a thermos. Zoe seemed confused at the bottle, mommy was warmer and softer. She accepted the bottle though when the nipple entered to her mouth; she knew that the bottle contained more food than mommy. Zully was wiggling their arms and legs, trying to turn their body to find their twin. Seb tilted Zully up to have Zoe in their line of sight and Zully calmed.

“Hey, um, how about I show you around the Institute?” Ford suggested, actually grinning widely. No one really wanted to, but they GUESSED it was HIS birthday too, and they liked to see him happy so everyone accepted. “Haha, great! Fiddleford is still working! Come on!” The scientist skipped outside and everyone shared a tired look. They put the twins to sleep, after nice and sweet Abuelita promised to watch over them, and they all followed Ford outside. He was so proud of this. He had wished to have his own research center since he saw it in that dimension, he couldn’t believe he actually did it!

Seb giggled. It was so weird how the HUGE and modern Institute contrasted with the little wood Shack. And thinking the center hadn’t existed a year ago!

\--.--

“SO~ Dillon~ Do you have a GIRLFRIEND?” Candy, Grenda and Mabel giggled when the bottle landed on Dillon as Dipper and _Pacifica_ rolled their eyes. They were playing in the park, they had gone to search for Pacifica and invited her to hang out with them. She gave Dipper a really weird smile, and accepted.

“Um…No…” Dillon chuckled sheepishly. “HOW?! YOU’RE SO CUTE?!” Grenda gasped. “Well~ I-” Dillon stammered before Grenda looked up and smiled, bellowing out “MARIUS! WE’RE OVER HERE!” and waved her muscular arms rapidly. Dillon looked over and froze as a _gorgeous_ boy strode over, wind blowing through his long, luxurious hair. “...illon...Dillon!” A hand shook his shoulder and Dillon blinked to see Mabel. “Huh? Wha?” Dillon blinked again.

“That’s Marius, Grenda’s boyfriend.” Mabel told him, gesturing to that long haired boy. “Marius, this is my cousin Dillon.” Grenda was slapping Marius on the back in greeting, the boy wheezed but had a large blush on his face as he looked at his girlfriend. “Ah Grenda, it is so nice to see you again.” He gave her a hug before turning to Dillon. “Hello to you, Dillon, yes? I am Marius von Fundshauser.” The wind blew again and the baron brought a hand up to brush his hair away from his face, his beauty mark uncovered as he tucked his bangs behind his ear. Dillon stammered, cheeks faintly red. “H-Hi…”

“Did you have a nice flight?” Mabel asked kindly and the teen nodded. “Yes, thank you, it was a very exciting experience to travel in a plane with normal people!” Marius said, his accent made Dillon shiver. “I’m glad I found you so fast.” Marius kindly smiled at Grenda who cooed (ie, rumbled like a lawnmower) and hugged him tightly. Marius squeaked but hugged her back.

“Alright, where were-oH! Yes! Dillon, would you like me to find you a summer love~~’” Mabel battled her eyelashes. “Really, Mabel?” Pacifica raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t even get a summer love.” Dipper raised an eyebrow as well, perfectly matching Pacifica’s deadpan expression. Mabel blew a raspberry. “PFFTT! But I’m the best at getting people together! Just look at you two!”

Dipper and Pacifica turned to face each other and jolted apart. The girls laughed as Pacifica and Dipper shrieked. ““We-We are NOT together!!””

“And then WHY were you spending SO much time talking to Pacifica since last year~?” Mabel grinned like a little shit. “”OOOHHH!!~” Candy and Grenda said. “We-We are FriENds!” Dipper’s voice cracked several times in that sentence.

“Ooohhh~~ Suureee! When’s the wedding, Dipper~??” Dillon grinned devilishly. “AAaaaAHHHHHH!!” Dipper shrieked as Pacifica pulled her hair to cover her face. She?! She DIDN’T like Dipper!! AT ALL!!

“When You GeT a GirlFrienD, YoU’re **DEAd**!” Dipper cracked as he glared at Dillon. “I’m gOIng to enjoy teASIng You forEver!”

Mabel, Dillon and her friends fell to the floor laughing, holding their stomachs, as Pacifica curled up, wishing to be eaten by the earth, and Marius giggled softly. He knew he was being very rude, but right now he didn’t have to act all formal and proper. Being around Grenda and her friends meant he could stop being a baron and just… be a kid for once. He loved that about her, how she made him feel safe enough to relax and have fun.

After a healthy dose of teasing Dipper, the teens decided to go to the Diner, remembering they just skipped the birthday lunch. On the way, they saw Robbie and Tambry chilling at a table and Mabel jumped over immediately to ask how they were doing and if love was still in the air. It was.

Dipper looked at Pacifica who was looking down at the floor with a very awkward expression, pulling at her pink skirt. “Um...Mabel was just teasing…” He said quietly. Pacifica bit her lip. “Y-yeah, Mabel does that, I know.” She sighed. Dipper rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. “But, it’s ok, it’s nothing against you, you are pretty and when I say that we’re not dating, it's not like I’m repulsed by you or something.”

Pacifica blinked. “...Ok…” She gave the teen an awkward smile. “Thanks, it’s nice to know you aren’t repulsed by me.” Dipper nodded, his cheeks blushing. “You are nicer now so it’s easier not to hate you…” Pacifica snorted. “So I’m not ‘the worst’ anymore?” She grinned. Dipper laughed. “Naw, you’re still the worst!” He nudged her playfully with an elbow.

Dillon glanced at them interacting and rolled his eyes. Yeah, they totally didn’t like each other~ He looked at Marius and his smile disappeared. It was so unfair… He liked people, but no one will EVER like him back… He wasn’t _sick_ , he knew that, he knew who he was, but...he felt weird. It… it wasn’t normal… to like boys…

Dillon had looked it up online, erasing his internet history afterward out of worry. He knew what he was. He also read about other kids like him who had been… rejected by their families for being what they were. Dillon was terrified that would happen. Especially since he finally had his family together again. Dillon wasn’t sure what to do. If… if his dad didn’t accept him…

Dillon knew that uncle Seb would be okay with it. Uncle Seb was great about things like that. But dad? Dillon didn’t know. Didn’t want to test it. Not so soon after he finally had his dad back. Not when he had the upcoming baby threatening to steal his parents away, to steal all the joy from his life. It wasn’t fair. Dillon sighed and kicked a rock. He wanted to enjoy summer vacation with his family. He really did.

Mabel, sensing unhappiness emanating from somewhere near her , turned and gasped at Dillon’s expression. “Dillon? What’s wrong?” She slowed down to walk beside him. Dillon put on a big smile. “I’m just thinking about how my stomach is eating itself! I want to eat already!” He laughed. Mabel pursed her lips. “Are you SURE that’s what’s bothering you?” She raised an eyebrow.

Dillon patted her head and smirked. “Dude, yeah. Really...Hey, look at that, Dipper wants to kiss Pacifica!” “WHERE??!!” Mabel turned around and squealed when she saw Dipper and Pacifica walking together. Dillon thanked the skies for Mabel’s short term memory and continued walking in silence. He should stop worrying, really, his face gave him away. Stupid expressive Uncle Seb and actress mom making baby him copy them.

\---

“-nd here is our mini-hadron collider!” Ford said proudly. Seb blinked slowly. “Uh… Sixer, ain’t this thing...like, super dangerous? Like, could theoretically create a black hole dangerous?" Ford didn’t seem phased. “Naw, we’ve got the most advanced security to make sure this machine stays stable at all ti--”

“AHHH! THE COOLANT IS LEAKING AGAIN!!!” “Quick! Give me that duct tape!!”

Ford continued to grin at his now, VERY worried family as the other scientists in the room down below ran around screaming. McGucket could be heard laughing wildly. “DON’T WORRY! IT’S FER A SECURITY TEST TA SEE IF MY ROBOTS CAN FIX IT!” followed by mechanical sounds and more screaming as security robots came out from the walls and began igniting their welding torches.

Ford, non-phased, continued the tour. “So as you can see, we have everything under control-”

An explosion happened in a room down the hall and several scientists stumbled out, coughing as a huge fan turned on outside to blow the smoke back into the room and up a chute. “DAMMIT BARRY! I TOLD YOU NOT TO ADD THE PENTA UNTIL AFTER I GOT THE EQUIPMENT READY!”

Ford continued walking calmly. “As you can see, there are fans installed to immediately suck up any toxic gasses.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t work…” Shermie mumbled as Stan ordered Carla to return to the house. Seb rubbed the back of his head as Wanda narrowed her eyes. “And the government pays for this..?”

“In less than a year we’ve come up with at least 40 new research papers~ You just don’t understand how SCIENCE is done!” The Pines watched as Fiddleford ran towards them, his shoulder was on fire. “Everything’s FIXED now!” “Yeah!” Ford high-sixed his friend. “Oh! Fiddleford, this is my family, I’m giving them a tour! This is Shermie, my youngest brother, his wife Abigail, Carla, Stanley’s wife, Wanda, Seb’s girlfriend and my mother!”

Kari was really worried about this crazy, dangerous place. But it made her oldest baby boy so happy~ And he got to interact with more people than just his best friend. It was better than being cooped up all alone. Kari also noticed many FEMALE scientists walking through the halls and grinned. Perhaps her oldest baby would work together with one of them, and perhaps get closer and eventually… well, she wanted more grand babies. She didn’t care HOW she got them~

“Hey, you know, how about we all go talk outside? Like, out of the radiation?” Seb grinned. The group headed back outside where Wanda and Carla finally got to meet Fiddleford officially. “Hahaha!” McGucket laughed and slapped his knee. “You two didn’t lose time, huh!” He looked at the babies in Wanda and Seb’s arms before turning his gaze onto Carla’s round belly. Fiddleford nudged Ford. “What about you old friend? Think about settling down at some point?”

“What? I have too much _SCIENCE_ to do.” Ford scoffed. Fiddleford shrugged. “So do I, but I still got myself a wife and son.” Ford pouted. “Well, I really don’t feel like meeting anyone right now, and I have no time to get to know anyone in such a way.” And babies? No. Never. Those squealing lumps of time-wasting attention sponges would ruin his career! He had too much work to do, he had lost so much time in space! Babies fit his brothers much better. Besides, the act of creating babies would be… unpleasant. Ford held back a shudder.

Fiddleford asked to please hold the twins and Seb, after debating it with himself (Fiddleford was better now, his blond hair had grown back, he had remained shaved, wore glasses and shoes), so he handed him Zully (after asking him to disinfect himself, to which Fiddleford had scoffed, “Der gonna haffta face germs eventually or they won’t build themselves an immune system!” which made Seb reconsider and shrug, handing the baby over). The engineer cooed at the yawning baby who was sticking their little tongue out and licking their lips. They were hungry… “How are you, princess~? Seb, she’s so cute and small~”

Zully felt something uncomfortable in their chest as Fiddleford bounced them a little and coughed up some of the formula they drank earlier, the slimy fluid dribbling down and splattering onto Fiddleford’s labcoat. Seb winced. “Oh shoot, Zully!”

Fiddleford laughed and waved him off. “It’s fine, babies do that.” That knowledge made Ford doubly glad HE didn’t have babies. That would have been _disgusting_. Seb handed him a bib and Fiddleford cleaned Zully’s mouth before cleaning himself. Seb hummed and smiled. Huh, Fiddleford was actually very good with kids, that’s nice…

“How’s your kid anyway?” Seb asked. “Ah, Tate!, he’s doing fine!” Fiddleford grinned before handing Zully to Wanda. “He helps me build some stuff.” Ford nodded. “The boy is actually very intelligent, he just doesn’t like to show off.

Fiddleford didn't know it, but the teen actually LOVED to spend time with him, Tate had missed his father so much. He didn’t get heckled about his pa by the townsfolk anymore, because the crazy lunatic from town was a hero! And one of the greatest inventors of all time! He was so glad that “the thing that never must be spoken” actually reunited his family. Nevermind all that.

The teens, along with their friends, returned when the sky was darkening, to sing happy birthday for the triplets. The babies didn’t know what was going on, but eh, the bright fire looked pretty! Their hands got warmer at the thought, but they still didn’t have the mental connections to focus on making conscious fire. Seb didn’t notice, neither did Wanda as the two kissed after Seb helped blow out the candles.

This was the first time he’d ever blown out the birthday candles together with his brothers. The first time he got to celebrate his birthday together with his family. Then he started crying and spent a few minutes screaming he was fine and how he was just a slave to emotions he never learned to control. Mabel “Aaaaww!” and hugged her uncle tightly.

Night arrived, their first night together in town. Hooray! The Shack had gone through an expansion, like Seb suggested to Ford last year. The second floor now had more rooms and a bathroom and the underground level, where Ford’s bedroom was, also had more space. Ideal for housing so many people. Mabel had totally invited her friends for a sleepover, without even asking Ford. Seb said sure! As if that was still his house.

“Ford! You can’t deny Baron Marius Wahwahhauser a place to stay for the night~!” Seb said, unable to pronounce his last name. “He SANG Happy BIRTHDAY for You!”

“Alright…?” Ford said but Shermie huffed. “I don’t care if he’s a king, he’s not sleeping in the same room as my daughter.” “I sleep with Dipper?” Mabel raised an eyebrow and Shermie made the same expression she was making. “He’s your brother?!”

“Ugh, stop it! I’ll camp outside with Dillon and Marius, just stop it!” Dipper, moodily, exclaimed. Mabel actually thought that was better. All girls sleepover! And the boys got their own!

“I-I seriously don’t…” Dillon looked at Marius, blushing. “NO!” Grenda exclaimed. “You’ll hang out with Marius and be friends!!” Dipper was already pulling out the camping supplies from the closet. Ford quietly murmured, “I didn’t realize I had camping supplies here…”

Marius, so innocent, was pretty excited for this camping experience with normal friends!

“Come on, Paz! You’re new to our sleepovers~ But you’ll love them!! We will practice our makeup techniques and talk about boys~” Mabel wiggled her eyebrows as she dragged her upstairs. “Speaking of boys, Mabel, your dad is pretty cute too!” Candy giggled as she ran upstairs with everyone. Shermie smiled and rubbed the back on his head. “Ah, haha, thanks?” Abigail rolled her eyes. “Damn sexy Pines men.” Carla and Wanda both nodded.

Shermie scoffed. “Well, here’s hoping Dipper grows out of his awkward teen stage soon.” Seb grinned. “Actually, I once traveled to another dimension with a grown up Dipper, and yeah, he’s gonna be just as handsome as the rest of us once he’s older.”

“Haha, another dimension...Can you do that with your...psychic fire stuff?” Shermie joked. Seb shook his head, “Nah, that was something I did with my alternative universe self who was a little girl…” Everyone blinked at him slowly. “HAH!” Shermie laughed. “You have the weirdest stories!” He said, still not believing a word of any of it.

The three teen boys said bye to everyone and walked outside to the porch. Carla demanded a hug from her baby boy, and Dillon swore he wanted to give it to her, but he didn’t want to feel her squirming stomach, so he just muttered a, “See ya, Ma.” and ran outside.

Carla stared after Dillon sadly as Seb started discussing with Shermie. “I’m not joking! It really happened! Ma! You think this isn’t consider a power?”

Carla went to sit when Kari screamed loudly at Seb’s arms catching on fire. They were going to give their mom a heart attack one of these days. Wanda sat next to her to place a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll love his little brother when he’s born~ He’s just going to turn 14, he’s all moody and confused.” The brunette sighed. “I hope you’re right...I’ve been told to let him come to terms with it, I know Seb had problems with Shermie as kids, Stan told me...but it sucks to see him so upset, it has ALWAYS been Dillon and me after all…” Carla puffed her cheeks as she rubbed her belly. “This is my fault for being so horny.”

Wanda giggled. “Tell me about it~” She nodded in the direction of the twins, sleeping in a blanket. “It’s those sexy Pines men’s fault though, for being so cute!” Wanda complained and Carla nodded. “Urgh, I know right?!”

“What are we talking about?” Abigail skipped towards them and sat down. “‘Bout how the Pines brothers make you horny.” Abigail laughed loudly. “Tell ME about it!” The three women laughed, feeling a friendship forming. Abigail DID give Carla a long look. “Why didn’t you and Stan use birth control? After Shermie put two kids in me, I’ve been super careful about taking my pills.” The fact that Dipper and Mabel didn’t have younger siblings was proof of that.

Carla blushed. “I forgot…” Wanda and Abigail sighed. “There’s a 24-hour After pill?” Wanda pointed out. Carla shrugged. “I had an early shoot on set, forgot again. And then it slipped my mind entirely until I started getting sick. It was then that Carla realized she fucked up~” Carla joked and her friends laughed.

As the women discussed, the boys were outside setting up camp. “So...You come from Austria...What do you do for fun, Ma-Marius?” Dillon asked.

“Oh, I practice horse riding.” Marius smiled. “And fencing.” Dipper smirked. “Ooh~ Rich sports~” Dillon smiled a bit. “I practice basketball and play videogames. My-My mom put me in the boy scouts as a kid but I hated it and demanded to get out” Marius laughed. That sounded fun. He heard about the scouts, but Americans took it more seriously.

They finished building their tent and once again sneaked into the house to get some snacks and their videogames. They could see the girls from the window in the attic, and Dipper thanked the skies he was safe in a tent and not being chewed on by a wolf.

“Dipper, um, what do you think of Pacifica?” Marius asked, totally getting information for Grenda and the girls. Dipper blushed and looked at his cousin. “I am SILENT! He’s going to bother me no matter what I say! So what if I like a girl, huh? EverYOnE likes a gIrl at some poiNT!” Dipper’s onset of puberty was causing a lot more voice cracks than last year.

Dillon’s eyes welled up with tears, unable to keep his emotions under control. Dipper’s false glare softened when his cousin curled up. “N-No, I-I won’t...You know, I’m kinda tired now…” Dillon pulled a blanket over his head. “Dillon, I didn’t mean to sound mean…” Dipper bit his lip and looked at Marius, he was just as clueless. Dipper knelt down beside his cousin. “Dillon? I’m not actually mad at you...Everyone teases me, I’m used to it, my DAD teases me, I’m seriously not mad...”

Dillon was still hiding his face from view. “I dOn’t…” He ran a hand through his tear covered face and both teens panicked. They didn’t know how to deal with this. “Oh my god! Dillon, I’m SO SOrry!” Dipper nervously apologized. Dillon shuddered and slowly poked his head out of Blanket-town.

“I don’t like girls!” Dillon managed to finally wail before he buried his face in the blankets again. Dipper and Marius blinked slowly, before looking at each other. “Uh...You don’t like girls?” Was he crying because of that?

Dillon shook his head with his face buried in his blankets, hoping to suffocate and die. “I understand if you don’t want to be around me anymore…” Dillon had asked for help on some pages on the internet, they said that some people didn’t understand, even family, but he had to understand he was not doing anything wrong.

“Why would we not?” Marius tied up his hair in a ponytail and patted Dillon’s back. “You’re just gay~” The baron didn’t see what was wrong with that. Dillon was a new friend, why should it be a problem if he found men attractive?

“Wait. Was me telling you ‘everyone likes girls’ the thing that upset you?” Dipper chuckled. Dillon pouted, hurt, but nodded. “Oh, I’m sorry...I didn’t know, but it’s ok? We don’t hate you or something? Actually, mom has told us about it at some point and Uncle Seb likes men too.” Dillon extracted himself from the blankets.

Dillon rubbed his eyes. “He does?” the teen sniffled. Dillon knew uncle Seb was fabulous as fuck, but hadn’t gotten confirmation on his orientation before. But wait. “So… uncle Seb is Bi? Since he likes aunt Wanda too?” Dipper shrugged. “I guess, Mabel is the one who knows all the terms and stuff.”

“So...Do you think that if I tell my parents, they won’t get upset?” Dipper laughed. “Aunt Carla looks very cool and Uncle Stan LOVES you, Dillon!” His cousin didn’t seem too sure. “If you only knew how much he wanted to meet you that last summer, that was the only thing he talked about! And~ how we never had bacon, but that’s beside the point. My point is that, whenever you’re ready, Stan won’t get angry with you.”

Still, Dillon sniffled. “Please, promise me you’ll keep this a secret!”  Dipper and Marius crossed their hearts. “Promised!”

The three boys laid down, Dillon feeling much more relieved than before. Part of the heavy weight was lifted off his chest. Minutes later, Dillon turned to look at the Austrian teen, blushing slightly. “Marius, I know you’re with Grenda and all...but I needed to tell you I think your hair is beautiful...and your eyes…”

“Thank you!” The Baron chuckled. Dillon curled up with his cousin and new friend and slept peacefully for the first time in years.

\---

The girl’s sleepover was much less peaceful. It was loud (Grenda), weird (Mabel) and involved copious amounts of butter (Candy). Pacifica winced every time some butter splashed onto the ground near her. “I’m pretty sure this stuff is NOT meant to substitute for actual massage oil.” The blond pointed out.

“But it makes my skin feel so smooth~” Candy chirped as she slathered it onto herself and Grenda as part of the massage section of their MAKEOVERS OF GLORIOUS PAMPERING™.

“And~ That’s not how you use makeup…” Pacifica winced. They were almost 14, they should start being more mature. Mabel scoffed. “We’re not seedlings! We’re flower buds preparing to BLOSSOM into REAL WOMEN!!” She stood up and screamed with her arms raised high into the air. Grenda and Candy screamed too. Pacifica’s eye twitched.

Pacifica massaged her temples. How could someone as calm and reasonable as Dipper be twins with a crazy girl like Mabel?! “I can teach you to do your makeup properly?”

“““REALLY? EEEEEEEEE!!!!!””” The three girls squealed. Waddles had had the great idea to escape the room and was now sleeping with Seb. He had missed Seb so much! He loved Mabel but if he stayed with her any longer, his ears were going to burst.

“OK! What music should I put on?!” Mabel pulled out her phone and music blasted from it. “We will stay awake ALL NIGHT!!!”

A few rooms away, Zully was wriggling in annoyance. They turned to look at their sister, who was rubbing her face with her fists with a wrinkled nose. With a determined look to MAKE their parents stop that noise, the twins let out a collective wail. Unknown to the twins, they were the family’s saviors that day. Sebastian and Wanda woke up and the babies’ wails made Seb order his brother, still awake and dying, to do something.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY, MABEL!” Shermie and Abigail screamed. The girls were forced to continue their party in mute, they could stay awake but couldn’t make noise because the babies were trying to sleep like _everybody_ else. The house finally had peace. Zoe and Zully sucked their thumbs in success as they finally fell asleep. Yeees~ mommy and daddy gave them _anything_ if they cried hard enough. Except mommy’s milk, but that wasn’t something they really complained about. The twins yawned and fell asleep.

\--.--

Seb missed Dr. Linda.

He needed to talk, but he was staying for two long weeks. He liked the town and all, he even managed to see Wendy and she was pretty shocked to meet the twins, it was fun...but he was starting to realize...or well, confirm, that he wasn’t really important as a human, or as great…

During the week, they all found time to talk, not only about the upcoming Summerween next week, but about their jobs. They all listened to Ford’s crazy adventures with the scientists, how he had guided them through town for a basic ‘weirdness tutorial’, to Stan talking about his training and how he was SO happy to be back and playing again, glad he didn’t actually lose his chance to continue, and how people couldn’t believe his stamina was the same or even better than before, and sometimes to Shermie’s fun things from work, about how a guy almost erased all the company’s data and he spent hours working to recover it, or that time he had to stop a hacker by hacking him. That was a good day.

And Seb didn’t feel comfortable telling them what he did so far...Because nothing really interesting has happened to him. Besides the twins, he had just...been at home, cutting _fabric_. He wanted to tell them about how he had already finished high school! How he had his certificate framed because it made him so proud!

Or maybe that-that the classes he was taking were going great or-or his therapies with Dr. Linda...but he couldn’t, bringing the attention to himself like that was so childish and cringy. He did that as a child, but not anymore. Fordsie won an inter-school spelling contest~...and there was Seb, thinking he was special or could even compare his merits by saying he got a B in an English test everyone else got an A on anyway...

So he just listened, he spoke too much anyway. Seb remained quiet and fed the twins. He wanted Linda because he didn’t want to feel like a failure anymore… Linda always listened to him talk about all sorts of inane things and seemed perfectly interested in all of it. It was comforting to talk to her, babbling on without worrying over entertaining her or saying things that made her happy.

He liked listening to his brothers though. They were so happy and he wanted to keep it that way. The lizard said he brought him back to save people, and he guessed that it included making their lives happier, his family was...a nice gift he was somehow allowed to have in the first place. He stroked Zoe’s cheek when she started fussing and whimpering. She didn’t like to be with daddy when she...she felt daddy being weird, she wanted a nice feeling daddy, so he better change back to normal. Zoe whined and shoved daddy’s hand away. Daddy please stop feeling so weird! Zoe whined and kicked her legs, wiggling around unhappily. Zully whimpered, feeling the same.

“No, come on, baby…” Seb started rocking them and stood up, accidentally interrupting Stanford in the middle of the explanation of his new project. To be honest, it was boring anyway.  “Sorry, um, babies crying-I’ll-I’ll take care of this…” Zoe sobbed harder after that. Daddy stop it! Please! It made her feel bad! “Shh, shhh, what’s wrong Zoe? Zully, please!” Seb asked as he rocked them gently.

“Nyah!” Zoe wailed. Seb rocked her, trying to calm her down. He whimpered and took a deep breath. “Twinkle twinkle little star, Zoe please I’m gonna cry~” He carried his daughters to his temporary room and carefully laid them down on the bed. He curled up around their little crying forms and stroked their blond little hairs. “Sh, sh, ssssh...What’s wrong? Something bothered you? It’s ok~ I know what you feel, not being able to speak sucks, right? You can only cry and lay on your tummy, but I promise that as you grow up, you’ll be able to do much more things, like sit on your own, and talk and walk. It’s not that hard, it’s like possessing one vessel until the day you die~” He wiped Zoe’s tears when she started sniffling. “You just wanted to get out of there? Was Sixer’s boring speech bothering you? Yes?” He cooed.

Zoe stared at her dad with big heterochromatic eyes. Yay! He wasn’t being weird anymore! It was nice to be around him again! She liked hearing his voice too, she hadn’t heard it since her uncles started speaking. “Goo~” Zully calmed down as well, the weird feeling coming from daddy was gone.

“Thank you, Zoe, thank you, Zully.” Seb yawned and closed his eye. The infants yawned as well and fell asleep, liking how warm daddy’s hand was resting on their bellies.

When Wanda returned to the room after some baby shooping with Carla at the mall, she found her 3 babies sleeping. She cooed loudly and snapped a photo. "Look at how cute my babies are~" she sent the photo with her text to Carla and Abigail.

Her phone buzzed as Abigail sent back baby photos of her own kids asleep on Shermie, his glasses about to fall from his face. 'Hah! Not as cute as mine!' The younger woman teased. Wanda's eyes narrowed. Oh, a competition huh?

She spent the next half hour snapping more photos of her sleeping boyfriend with the kids as well as sending other baby photos. Carla got in on the action as well, sending photos of Dillon as a baby or after Stan came home and the two fell asleep on top of each other.

Kari eventually noticed what they were doing and demanded ALL the photos.

It was a fun day all around.

\---

To Dipper's frustration, he wasn't able to find any cryptids to show his dad. Not even the Summerween Trickster. Though, to be fair, Soos DID eat him…

They DID see Toby Determined (or as he insisted on being called now, Bodacious T), which had Shermie screaming and going "OH MY GOD! IT WAS ALL TRUE! MONSTERS EXIST!"

….which was kinda a victory?

Mabel patted Dipper's back. "It's fine bro-bro. We can show dad the magic stuff some other time." She hugged her twin and swung her huge hoop earrings around, making the teenage boy laugh.

Mabel was right, they still had many summers and… Dipper looked up at his Dad who was hugging Seb and the baby twins, everyone was packing to go back home. Their family was finally together, so everything was going to be fine, they all had many summers to spend together.

\---

MEET THE BABIES

(they're a little older in this though)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Written by BlueFrosty27 and Mizuuma-
> 
> Mizuuma: Ok, done! Now to finished the next chapter of IiR..... ahhhhh!!  
> Did I catch all the spelling errors and stuff? Probably not, whateves~
> 
> Bluefrosty: Comment please! We love reading what you think!


	5. Chapter 4: Seb's trip through self knowledge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blue: Hii! I hope you are enjoying this weekly updates, when we run out of pre written chapters I dont know how regular we will be with posting :p  
> Anyways! I want you to appreciate Miz's amazing drawings of the babies down in the story, you'll squeal like I did, IT'S PRECIOUS!!!

The end of this summer was obviously less traumatic than summer of 2012 for all the Pines. It was almost… normal? Well, Dipper tried and failed multiple times to show his dad the supernatural, which frustrated him to no end. Apparently, the creatures thought that they should stay away from strangers from now on, what with everything that had happened last summer with the Pines twins. The Gnomes were still somewhat terrified of them. Rumble McSkirmish was not at his arcade cabinet, he was off dating Giffany, according to the people Dipper asked. Huh. Good for them?

Dipper couldn't even find the Multibear, his cave was empty and there was a note saying that he was on vacation. A few days into Dipper's attempts to find the supernatural, they started avoiding him on purpose, just because they thought it was funny to watch the boy get increasingly annoyed and look like a crazy teenager. Mabel wondered about Sev'ral Timez, since she didn't see them eating out of their trash. ("I hope they didn't get hit by a car." Mabel worried a little. Dipper scoffed, "Like they could even make it through the winter?") At least they still got to have some 'normal' fun together with their parents.

Everyone had gone home after the promised two weeks together, but soon enough, found themselves together once again at the end of September, visiting Carla and Stan after little Diego was born.

Visiting her was less worrying than it was with Wanda and the twins. Carla was doing perfectly fine, Mabel sobbed again over how cute the baby was. Carla was going to go home in a few days as Diego's birth went without any complications and she was healthy. Diego was a big baby, or at least, he seemed huge compared to the twins when they were born. Said twins were now healthy babies of 5 proud months, they were healthy and developing surprisingly quick, much to the doctor's amazement ("You see, it's amazing your premature babies are doing so well, without any mental or physical damage!" They were told.)

Wanda said it was the powers they inherited from Seb making them stronger. Seb thought so too.

Diego's mop of hair was DARK, like a black dark, promising to turn curly like his parents'. He looked a lot like Stanley, Kari claimed, and they still didn't know if he would have freckles or not. When he finally opened his eyes, they saw he had light eyes, not exactly green, but they weren't brown or dark brown either.

"Look, Zoe, that's your younger cousin~" Wanda cooed and carried her daughter a bit closer to the newborn. "Nah!" Zoe reached for Diego. "Yeah~ But he's still too little to play with you." Wanda laughed.

Seb was crouched next to Diego's plastic hospital crib. "Oh god~ He's a mini Stan~~ He's adoraaablee! Too bad they weren't triplet cousins like Dillon and the twins! That would have been SUPER AWESOME!" He carried Diego for a second before Zully whined jealousy. Hey! Daddy was only supposed to carry them!

"Sorry, kid, geez." Seb gave Diego to Stan and patted Zully's head before looking around. Dillon was sitting on the couch in the room, silently playing a video game. "Hey~ Have you seen your brother already? How are you?"

"Fine, I guess? And...yes, I have seen him, but I don't have to be jumping around in excitement if I don't feel it." Stan turned to look at Dillon with a sad expression while Seb hugged his godson. "Yeah, at first they're pretty annoying, but you'll like him eventually~" Stan sat next to them, Diego sleeping soundly in his arms, and wrapped a muscular arm around Dillon. "Would you like to go outside and eat an icecream now that your mom can't stop us?"

"Heyy~ Not fair, I'm not allowed to eat that!" Carla cried. Dillon nodded and snuggled closer to his dad for a hug. "With the baby?" The teen asked sadly.

"Nah, the baby can only drink milk." "Ok, I wanna go then..." Stan carefully left Diego in his crib and after a soft kiss on his small forehead, he took Dillon outside to buy him some sweet, cold happiness. "Do you think Diego's allergic to something?" Seb asked his sister-in law. "Dillon can save him from dying and they'll bond forever!"

Wanda and Carla rolled their eyes.

-.-

Before they knew it, Wanda's 4 months maternity leave flew by, and the little twins turned 6 months.

It was October, and despite the fact that Zoe and Zully couldn't go trick or treating yet, much to Seb's disappointment, Wanda still bought a bag of candy to enjoy all by themselves without fearing the kids will try to get some, because it WILL happen. Eventually, once the kids were older.

And then, suddenly, the twins were trying to bite everything and everyone. Zoe had always tried to chew on people, but now that their gums were sensitive and their fangs were tearing through them to come out, even Zully was sobbing desperately and chewing on anything they had around them.

They tried biting the spoon when Seb fed them and 4 bottle nipples had already been destroyed. Seb had examined their little mouths and HOLY SHIT, two little sharp pinpricks of white were protruding from their gums. "Aaawww! Look at you! You have TEETH!" Zoe proceeded to bite his finger and Seb screamed. It was like having two tiny needles piercing through his skin!

Wanda was pretty sure babies didn't grow their canines first, though, if she was honest with herself, Sebastian's teeth weren't normal either, his canines were sharp as well and even his normal teeth felt sharp so she guessed the twins, being his kids, weren't that different.

Oh, she was so glad she wasn't breastfeeding…

"Hi, Ma~" Seb phoned his mom as he stared wide eyed at yet another bitten to death pacifier. "So, I know when I was teething you started giving me bottles, but how did you stop me from destroying those?"

"No." Kari just said tiredly. "N...o?" Seb asked again, even more confused. "I didn't, you stopped destroying them yourself after...the 3rd change of nipple? I think?"

"And how do I do that? I can't get the little monsters to stop! I've already spend 24 dollars just replacing those and now Zoe bit through her pacifier!" He complained. Kari smiled from the other side. Aaaww~Her granddaughters were so adorable~ "Well, I really don't know, sweetie, you just did... Hm, I just remember your Father was pretty upset about you destroying them…" Kari sighed.

Seb's eye widened. Oh. He remembered now...He was hurting, and liked to destroy the bottles, but then he saw Filbrick shouting at his mom, he got scared, in his dumb baby mind, and stopped doing it so his mom would be ok.

Filbrick… His arm started trembling with suppressed anger and fear. He hated him so much, but he was still so afraid of him...

"Ok…" He whispered.

He sat the twins on the couch, they could sit on their own now, and sat in front of them, dressed fancily with a vest and a bowtie while the twins were wearing pink and yellow onesies. "Girls, we have things to discuss." He said seriously.

"Goo?" Zully tilted their head.

"You can't continue destroying your things, every time you do that we have to replace them and that costs money, you know what money is? Money are papers mom and dad win to buy things, like your milk. If we don't have money, we can't buy milk and you'll starve and die. Do you want that?"

Babies understood death, right? He did at that age…

Zoe stuck her hand in her mouth and slobbered over it. Zully was looking around the room, already losing interest. Seb continued. "And your toys too! You bite them too! You should stop doing that. Alright?" Thank Ax that Rico gave him so many toys.

Zoe was now chewing on the sofa pillow. Seb pulled it away from her. "No, stop that. That's what I DON'T want you to do!"

Zoe whined and reached for the pillow. Seb held her away from it. "Zoe, we are having a serious discussion here and-" he turned to see Zully pulling at the other pillow. "No. Zully, you let that go RIGHT now!"

Finally Seb removed the pillows from the couch and resituated the twins. He snapped his fingers in front of their faces to get their attention. "Hey. Eyes up here. I'm talking to you." Seb frowned, having no idea how normal human babies worked. "Do you want to starve to death? Because that's what's going to happen if you continue down this road of destruction and ruin." He held up a container with all the destroyed nipples and pacifiers.

"You see this?" Seb waved the container in front of them. Zoe reached for it. Seb pulled it away. "This is the result of your terror. All these, RUINED! Now what do you have to say for yourselves?"

"Ahhhh! Gah naaah!" Zoe pouted, reaching for the container again. Seb continued to hold it out of her reach. "No you can't have them, you destroyed them! I want to hear an apology from you." Seb scolded.

Zoe narrowed her eyes at her dad. Why wouldn't daddy give it to her? She wanted it! Daddy gave her everything she wanted! "Nah!" She said insistently. "No. You need to apologize first." Seb scolded again. Zoe glared. "NAH!" She shrieked. The two glared at each other stubbornly while Zully sucked on their thumb and wondered when mommy was coming home.

Seb's eye turned red, but startled when Zoe burst into tears (because Daddy was being MEAN!) But Sebastian thought she was crying because his eye was another color. Seb's eye widened. "Oh no! I'm so sorry!" He didn't mean to scare her!

Zully gasped when they felt their thumb feeling funny and then something yummy in their mouth. Um, they had never tasted something like this before! They had to show it to the world! "Bah!" They called Daddy.

Seb had picked up Zoe to rock her when he looked at Zully. "AAHH!" He shrieked. Zully's hand was bleeding!

He mentally apologized to his mom for giving her these kind of heart attacks as a kid, before rushing his child to the bathroom. Zully whined when the nice tasting thing was washed away. Seb went to look around for bandages after putting the twins in the empty bathtub. "Zully, you shouldn't do that. You're going to hurt yourself." Which was hypocritical for Seb to say but he was a good dad and good dads kept their babies from harm.

They didn't cause it.

Zully pouted at their cleaned finger and went back to biting it. Seb pulled his hair, getting stressed. Why couldn't they just stop?! His mom talked to him as a baby and he always understood!

He stroked his beard, his cute goatee had grown and more facial hair than he ever thought covered his sharp cheeks and chin (stupid fast hair growth!) and floated the babies towards the kitchen. Zully and Zoe kicked their legs awkwardly as they floated. Seb got two ice cubes from the freezer and gently stuck it in his babies' mouths. "There. Bite that! It's cold and will help."

Ah! He was such a good dad!

He watched the twins chew on the ice cubes, they liked the crunching sounds they made. The twins seemed confused at how COLD it was to hold this nice chewy thing though, and Seb wiped their faces with their bib when they got wet. Zoe made a confused sound when her chewy thing disappeared. Dad gave her another one though and she went back to biting.

Then Wanda came home and freaked out about how she read ice cubes were a choking hazard and he shouldn't be giving them to the babies.

"But...that's the only way to keep them from chewing anything else!" Seb argued as Wanda hugged and kissed the babbling babies. "They have chewing toys in the fridge."

"No."

"No what?"

"There aren't any anymore...Zoe and Zully destroyed them." Wanda stared at him. "What?!" "Yup, spilled all that liquid everywhere, had to clean up everything and check if it wasn't toxic or something in case she ate some."

Zully made a happy baby noise.

Seb crossed his arms and he looked at his babies sternly. "I tried to have a serious talk with them but they don't want to comply!" He whined at his girlfriend, completely serious, but he made her laugh instead.

"Hhuummm~!" Wanda hummed loudly. "I wonder why~" "Because they're stubborn like you!" Seb smiled smugly. Wanda gasped in mock offense. "Oh really now? I'm the stubborn one?"

"I've been teaching them that they can't hurt themselves too!" Seb proudly declared as he put a hand over Zully's tiny one to stop them from taking it to their mouth.

"Will you follow your own advice?" Wanda raised an eyebrow as Seb floated the twins towards her. "Ppfftt! I'm doing great actually!" Wanda raised both her eyebrows, unimpressed. "Show me your wrists then."

"HahAH! Look at the hour, I totally forgot to make dinner! I'll go make something!" Seb ran away to the kitchen, making the blonde woman sigh.

-.-

"...And I failed…" Seb curled up on himself on Linda's couch. The twins had come with him because no one was at home and Wanda's mother had been busy, they were soundly sleeping in their convertible car seats. "I lied to Wanda but...but I swear I was THIS close to breaking my two weeks record!" Seb stuck a finger in his mouth, distressed.

Linda pulled off her glasses to massage her eyes. But Seb had been doing so well… "Seb...Biting also counts as hurting yourself…"

"Not if I don't make myself bleed!"

Linda sighed. "What made you relapse?" She asked softly. "Did something scare you?" The man nodded. "The-The twins are teething...They bite themselves and-and it's really scary for me, they have my demon powers after all, so that part of them came from me!" Linda nodded slowly. "And-And I just don't want them to be like me! I saw them in my dream hurting themselves like I do! And-And...I don't like it...I don't want to be responsible for them inflicting pain on themselves!" He-He wasn't Filbrick, he would never wish to cause the twins pain!

Linda put her glasses back on. "So you understand that what you do is not healthy or normal, right?"

"I mean, of COURSE it's not normal! Slitting your wrists open is not something a normal sane human DOES! But I can't STOP! Because I'm too damaged and-and I'll never get better…But I don't want that for the twins..." He sniffled, looking at the sleeping infants.

Linda looked down at the babies who were sleeping at the moment. "Well, if you don't want them learning this from you, you'll have to stop doing it." She gave Seb a smile. "Just think of them, whenever you feel like hurting yourself, think of what would happen if they saw you, and perhaps, you need another method of relieving the stress inside. Have you considered screaming into a pillow or perhaps having a closet filled with blankets and pillows for you to thrash around in? So you wouldn't hurt yourself and wouldn't distress the children?"

Seb made a distressed sound. "B-but what i-if I need to hurt? B-because I need to be punished and… and…"

Linda spoke calmly. "Why do you need to be punished? Who punished you?" She was pretty sure someone must have done something to Sebastian when he was younger, hurt him. Made him feel like he deserved to be hurt. She was sure it wasn't the mother, Seb held her in high esteem, it didn't seem like they had problems. His triplets? He spoke a lot about how he always fought and argued with his oldest brother, but according to Sebastian they were "Super fine now".

The thought of someone hitting him, or hitting any child for that matter, made her quite angry but she couldn't let any of that show as she sat and waited for her patient to respond. Seb huffed and wiggled around until he was laying face down, face hidden under a pillow and butt in the air. He mumbled something.

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that but without the pillow?" Linda asked kindly and the man groaned loudly. "It-It's embarrassing!" He exclaimed. Thinking about how he let Filbrick hurt him was so stupid of him. What happened to all his mighty "I used to be a demon" attitude? It had been so easy for that man to whip his ass and have him sobbing on his knees.

It was so pathetic, but the worst part was that he was right. Seb deserved every single beating. He always messed something up, and that's why he had to be punished...

"I can't know if you never tell me, can I?" Linda reasoned and Seb went back to his refuge under the pillow but freed his mouth to mutter. "...Filbrick…"

"And who's he?"

"...My brothers' father...mom's sperm donor…" His eye welled up with tears. Fucking shit, eye! Stop. Crying. For once! If he cried, the twins cried, if he cried, the twins cried…

Linda frowned. "..." Meaning… Sebastian's… blood father. Whom she didn't even consider. He had never talked about this man until now. A man that Sebastian didn't even consider a father. Well, if what she was hearing here was right, this Filbrick man had hurt Sebastian. If she had to guess, he hurt Sebastian to the point that he refused to even think of that man as his father.

Some random bits of information she had about Seb started piecing together. "Your biological father hurt you...Do-Do you remember ...when? Why?"

"I was two years old...I was walking clumsily because my stupid little legs didn't work that well, broke a Tv cable when I tripped...Um-I think he only slapped me?" Seb smiled shakily but quickly sobered. "That was the first time. But...But he didn't stop..." He quickly wiped his tears. "I was a really clumsy kid, broke stuff all the time. And the-then I got punished. I-I also got really bad grades, because my brain doesn't work right, it never worked right! And-And it's not because of my past life, this body is literally damage in the head! Because I-I could NEVER DO ANYTHING RIGHT! OR THINK CORRECTLY! OR STAY STILL!" He covered his mouth to shut up, more tears shining in his eye. The babies stirred but otherwise remained asleep. "Filbrick said I wasn't worth anything...and he was right, because-because I never got good grades like Ford or-or played sports like Stanley and Shermie and-and the things I liked-like-are not for human males and I was a disappointment and he never wanted to see me!" His tears finally fell… "He once made me cut my hands with some glass, hah, that wasn't even his worst beating yet but-but then I met Matsuda and everything was-was fine, Matsuda liked me more…"

It was like the floodgates broke. Once he started, he couldn't stop. Sebastian poured his heart out to her. Every little moment, everything that man had done to him all his childhood. Up until the moment when Sebastian was thrown out into the streets with nothing but the clothes on his back. Linda was shivering, holding back her own tears as she listened. It was… awful couldn't even begin to describe it. And that man, Filbrick, had done all this, to his own child?

The babies had woken up at some point and where whimpering in distress at how sad daddy looked. Daddy shouldn't cry! Only they cried! Why was he crying? Seb had picked them up and was hugging them like little dolls, rocking back and forth with his eye closed. "Linda, I was so scared, he-I tried to be strong but he made me so weak! It was so scary! He was always angry at me for-for existing! And-And I always pla-played in my room because-because I KNEW he was going to hurt me if-if we crossed paths! And he always wore his-his thickest belt...with the metal buckle, it once hit my face and it bled for hours...And-And no one did ANYTHING! No one COULD! Not only was I struggling with my stupid defective body, which was stupid and weak to begin with, It ALWAYS hurt! It hurt to walk because my back hurt! And my butt and my neck and arms and face!" He laughed loudly, humourlessly. "And, you know, the bullies thought it was funny to make my bruises worse…"

Linda was very tempted to track down everyone in Sebastian's childhood neighborhood and see why NO ONE had done anything to help this child. Part of Linda wanted to speak with Sebastian's mother as well, but she didn't blame the woman for being unable (afraid, perhaps) to stand up to her husband if Filbrick was really that violent and unreasonable. But their neighbors, the teachers at school, anyone! Shouldn't SOMEONE have done something?!

Zully was getting really worried. They patted Daddy's nose as Zoe gurgled comfortably but firmly, her and her crib companion didn't like it when daddy was being all sad-weird, they could feel it. They liked being around daddy more when he was warm and happy feeling.

"Se-Seb…" Linda called, watching the poor man struggle to keep his shit together. "Your eye, did he hurt your eye…?" She had always wondered about his eyepatch. Seb pulled off his eyepatch revealing a dark, empty socket surrounded in scars, Linda sucked in a gasp. "No, I was born with a yellow eye, it was blind, and had a slit pupil, like my eye from my previous life...Filbrick hated it…I finally managed to get rid of it last year..."

Linda winced. So Sebastian had been born with a deformity… and his father had demonized him because of it. Treated the poor boy like he wasn't human, until Sebastian got it into his head, internalized the whole 'being a monster' thing and probably made up a delusion about being a reincarnated demon thing, as some way to explain to himself why his father hated him. A delusion made so that Sebastian, as an abused child, could try and understand why his father hurt him. If he believed it was because he was a demon, then he could find a justification, as opposed to his father hurting him for no reason, for NOT LOVING him for no reason. Linda had seen cases like this. Where abuse victims would make up a reason for why they were being hurt, blaming themselves instead of their abusers…

"Oh Sebastian…" Linda said softly.

"A-and the last time I saw that man, he… he punched me and accused me of killing my brothers…" Seb whimpered. And he might NOT have killed his brothers, but he pushed them into the portal! It was almost the same thing!

"Linda. Please grab the babies." He said with a strained voice. The psychologist complied, confused, and the man stood up to pace around the room, head pounding and his nails digging into his arms. "I-I can't. I'm going to fuck up. I can't get better, I can't do what Wanda wants me to do!" He went to curl up on the other side of the room, away from the twins. Linda carefully put the babies (their poor father) in their car seats and turned to look back at her patient.

"Sebastian, breathe please." She wanted him to calm down before addressing his wrists. He was scratching at them angrily, which made her wince. "Sebastian, please sit down." Linda brought out a large pillow. If she could just make him hug it, then he wouldn't be able to claw at himself.

"I'm sorry…"

"Sebastian, you did absolutely nothing wrong. You did NOTHING wrong, what Filbrick did to you was horrible, but please, don't hurt yourself, don't continue what you hated so much from your father." Linda went over to carefully, gently, steer Seb back onto the couch. "You don't have to hurt anymore, you don't have to be punished." Linda blinked away her tears, she couldn't break down, not while her patient needed her help.

She gave him the pillow and with trembling hands, he accepted it. "It's ok, Sebastian. I'm going to help you, you don't deserve to think about yourself like that…"

"Yes, I do! I'm a monster! I'm a horrible monster! I'm going to hurt my babies! Please keep them away! I deserve everything that happened to me! That's why I had to suffer in this life! I had to payo! Pay for e-everything I did as Bill! That's why I died last year!" He sobbed harder when the babies started sobbing, scared. Please daddy don't cry! Daddy was crying and they didn't know why, but they hated it!

Linda spent the rest of their time, and more time (Seb was her last patient that day), trying to get him to calm down. He was disconnected from reality, sobbing and mumbling incoherences. The twins had cried themselves tired, and Linda was getting distressed as well. But, finally, the 3 Pines calmed down, and then passed out.

Linda exhaled loudly and ran a hand through her blond hair. She stared at Seb worriedly but mentally promised to help him, he had a family who loved him, it wasn't fair he was treated so horribly by his father, it was a miracle he wasn't MORE damaged than he already was. Living with a fictional story in his mind for 39 years, and believing it...

He had gone through so much, Linda swore she was going to help him. She watched Seb, sleeping, and called Wanda. They had a lot to discuss…

Wanda was told of what Seb had told Linda. Or well, the most important things that concerned his health at least, Linda had patient confidentiality for a reason. Wanda knew most of it already, about how Seb thought he couldn't do many things, and how his father hit him, but actually hearing it from a doctor, how it wasn't just a "Oh, I can't do it." but an "I am a worthless person and I should be dead" kind of thing, that he had these problems because his own father physically and mentally abused him since he was a BABY, and he actually believed it, was really scary. The "inventing a past self" part... Wanda doubted it, she had seen Seb's powers and his yellow eye, but the rest of it...

After Dr. Linda called her to pick up Seb and the twins who had passed out from exhaustion, she asked Wanda to tell Sebastian to please not bring the twins again. "Sebastian has self confidence issues about his job as a father, when he sees the twins he breaks down crying and we can't make any progress." Linda explained. Wanda winced. "Ah… are you sure taking the kids away from him is a good idea?"

"When he's distressed, they get distressed, which just makes Sebastian even more agitated." Linda sighed. Wanda nodded in understanding before pursing her lips. "Sebas is not ok…"

Linda shook her head. "From what I could see, he has anxiety and trauma, which is basically what causes his self esteem problems. By some miracle, he doesn't have depression." She was quite grateful for that at least. Being sad was not the same as having depression.

"Would you recommend that he gets medicated?" Wanda just wanted to be sure. Linda made a humming noise. "I want to work a bit more with him and see. If he needs it, I'll prescribe him some pills, alright?" Wanda nodded sadly. Linda put a hand over the green-eyed woman's hand. "Don't worry, sweetie, Sebastian is going to get better, he had spent all his life without help, but he has our support now."

Wanda sniffled but managed to smile at her. "Yes, he has us now...Is-Is there something I should do to help him at home?"

Linda gave the other woman a smile. "Continue to love him, let him know that you'll be there if he ever needs it. From what I've heard from him, meeting you was one of the best things that has ever happened to him." Wanda blushed at her words and smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Thank you for your help." "It's my job, it's a pleasure, helping Sebastian is my own personal objective."

Wanda thought of Seb the whole trip back home, she almost passed a red light, her, the incarnation of the law itself. She was THAT distracted. She just wanted Seb to be happy, it was so scary to see him break down, it worried her. She worried for his mental health, she worried for their children, she didn't want them to grow up seeing their dad...unstable. It wasn't fair. She was confident her partner would be alright. They were finally together, and she thought everything would be perfect after their perfect meeting at the airport.

It wasn't. Life wasn't always nice...

A happily ever after required WORK. And Wanda was prepared to keep at it, she would make Seb happy. The happiest man in all the world. No matter what. They would have their happy ending, together. Wanda bent over to give Seb a kiss at the next red light. "I love you, Sebastian." She murmured. Maybe it was her imagination, but Wanda thought his sleeping expression looked more relaxed.

The babies were growing so fast.

Sebastian was SO proud of them. The kids were crawling everywhere and getting into everything. Wanda was sitting on the couch, laughing as she recorded Seb crawl after Zoe. "Run, Zoe! Crawl for your life! Dad's getting closer!" She cheered on her daughter.

"AARGHHH! I'M GOING TO EAT YOU!" Seb roared as Zoe shrieked for her life. HELP! Left, right, left right! As Zoe screamed, Zully was crawling over to the table and wanted to stand up using the tablecloth. Wanda saw them on time, rightfully screamed, and threw herself at the table to catch her baby before her laptop fell on them. That would have hurt! Both her baby and her precious laptop!

Wanda picked up her beautiful baby who was giggling and clapping excitedly. "You crazy girl~" She rubbed their nose with her own.

Seb was getting tired of crawling (he was wearing sweatpants so there weren't any nice pants being destroyed in the process), and he still couldn't catch his daughter. She was fast! How was a 6 month old so fast!?

"Aaahhh!" Zoe crawled over to the couch and used it to stand up. "Bluurgg! Ppp! Pah-Pah! Papa!" She gave Seb the biggest smile ever, showing off her little fangs and lower incisors as she squatted really fast. She tried to climb on the couch, but she was too little. Zoe growled and tried to pull herself up. "Papa!" Zoe called out, patting the couch while pouting at her daddy. Seb giggled and reached over to lift her. It took him a few seconds to realize what she said, Wanda's eyes were huge. "Wait, did you just say papa?" He asked.

"PAPA!" Zoe repeated it. Yeah, she said it! She wanted to get on the couch! "You-You called me papa…" He picked her up but didn't put her on the couch like she wanted. "Wanda, did you hear that?!" The blonde walked over to them, carrying Zully who was biting their hand. "Zoe...you said your first word!"

"I-I WAS HER FIRST WORD!" Seb screamed. This was the best day of his life! "My baby!" He cried in complete joy. Wanda rocked Zully and pulled their hand off their mouth. "Baby, can you say Mama?! Say mama please!"

"Noo! Say Papa! Say papa too!" Zully blinked, big brown eyes staring at their parents before blowing a raspberry.

Wanda laughed while Seb pouted. "No, say papa! Paaaa-paaaaa~" Seb drew out the sound. Zully yawned and laid back against Wanda's chest. The blonde laughed again. "Well, she'll say her first words eventually."

"Papa!" Zoe reminded Seb she still wanted to be on the couch and the man happily complied. "There you go~" Zoe sat down and crawled on the couch before humming and carefully sliding down off the couch. It got boring. She crawled towards her toys.

Wanda put Zully on the floor with their sister and the two watched the babies play. "I have to tell everyone I was her first word!" Seb exclaimed, leg bouncing with excitement. "Of course you were~ She loves you, Seb, she knows you're the best dad ever~" Wanda turned Seb's face towards her to kiss his lips.

Seb pulled away. "You think so?" he asked hesitantly. "I KNOW so…" Wanda reassured him with another kiss. Seb went to the kitchen to get some food as Wanda called. "Oh, by the way, my mom said she is going to take care of the twins while you're with Dr. Linda."

Seb pulled out some bread. "Are you sure? I'm fine taking the twins tomorrow, they're well-behaved." He spread his slice of bread with cream cheese. Wanda blinked. Did...he seriously not remember? It was only a week ago. Seb had stated he wanted a week off and this was the first time they talked about it after that day.

"You know my mom loves the girls, even when Zoe bit her…" Wanda didn't know how to feel about that. She felt embarrassed but...proud. "Besides, I can take them to my office too. there's the nursery I fought to install years ago for my colleagues and I haven't used it a single time!"

Seb bit his bread. "But I like taking the twins with me…" He trailed off. "What happened last time only happened that ONE time and won't happen again, I swear…" Wanda sighed. "Still, just… I don't get as much time with the girls as you do. So can I take them with me this time?" Wanda tried instead. Seb pressed his lips together and thought about it. "...Okay."

Hehehe~ Wanda chuckled mentally before giving him a kiss. "Thanks, I love you~"

So Wanda took the babies with her that day. Needless to say, they ended up happily napping in her office, because they refused to stay in the nursery and would bite the nannies and other babies there to prove their point. It was tiring, but Wanda knew it was worth it. Seb needed to be alone and concentrate on getting better...

-.-

"She called me Papa!" Seb was pretty happy that session. "We were playing and-and she just said it! I was her first word! I told ALL my family! My mom was so happy! Mabel, my niece asked me to record it next time for her. And Fez said 'Oh yeah?! Well Diego will say it sooner!' Diego is my youngest nephew, but he's still too little to speak! Fordsie at first got upset that I interrupted his experiment...but then I told him I was Zoe's first word and he chuckled and congratulated me! Hahah!" The not blond-anymore man smiled, kicking his legs. His hair had grown out and gotten cut. He stopped dying his hair because the twins would try to eat it and some of those chemicals could make them sick. His hair was now mostly brown with some yellow bits on the tips.

"You seem very happy." Linda smiled. "I AM very happy!" Seb clarified. "Yesterday was SO good! And Wanda is spending some time with the girls, that also makes me happy..." Seb laid down and stared at the ceiling, foot still moving restlessly. "You know...I had never been happy…" He confessed with a weird look on his face. "In-In Flatland, at least, not after Li-Liam was killed…"

"You had a brother in your past life?" Linda asked and Seb nodded. "Uh huh...Um, then, as a demon, I-I just-thought, I was, but I really wasn't…"

Says he's happy, he's a liar

"I-I actually feel happy now, being with my brothers again and having my niblings and my daughters...I don't know, it feels nice…" This was much more than what he could ask for, he didn't even deserve this much...

Linda wrote down some notes. She realized long ago that Sebastian's focus tended to jump around, more so when he was excited. She was beginning to suspect something but she didn't know enough to know for sure. She would have to be certain before she could address it.

"Nothing would have happened if they hadn't killed my brother, Linda, literally nothing...I-I KNOW I would have sulked forever about their stupid shit ass world...but I wouldn't…have...you know, killed everybody." Seb blew a raspberry. "It really, really sucked when he was gone, my adoptive parents from that time hated him so much because his sides weren't equilateral, perfect for their stupid society...much like...me as a human, actually, people hated me because I looked like even more like a monster! Hahaha!" Seb laughed humorlessly.

"Linda, you should have seen me with my yellow eye! I used to be PROUD of it, you know?! EW! Haha. And I had it uncovered until I turned...what? 14? 14! ...A-girl I liked insulted me in front of everyone at school so I kinda finally understood I was horrible to look at and started wearing my eyepatch, never took it off in front of people or Filbrick anymore." He pouted and stared at his 6 fingered hand. "Surprisingly...I don't mind my hand, you know? It makes me look a bit more like Ford...He didn't like them growing up, but we always told him he was special, Mom said she saw it in the cards hahaha, she's not a real psychic but we liked to believe her...And well, seeing my hand made me...I don't know...It helped me imagine I was special too, even when I wasn't."

"Why do you say you aren't?" Linda asked and Seb scoffed. "Because I am just not! Everyone said I-" "Ok, besides what 'everyone' thinks, why do you think you aren't special?" Linda interrupted, seriously considering tracking down every adult Sebastian knew as a child and giving them a stern talking to. (Or a punch to the face, but she wasn't really the violent type.)

Seb opened his mouth to say 'because everyone thinks I'm not' and 'because everyone said so' but...that was again an 'everyone'... "Because I'm a monster…" He finally said, because that was the only thing that he knew, for himself.

"Being a monster makes you unspecial?" Linda raised an eyebrow. "I'd say that DOES make you special." Seb was speechless. She… wasn't wrong? Being a monster wasn't good, but it wasn't unspecial. Why did he think he was shit? Everyone told him he was, it happen so frequently he just...believed it? But he was different, he had powers, he wasn't a normal human, that DID indeed sound like it would make him special. But if he was "special" then why couldn't he believe it?

Seb looked down. "I don't know…" When had he stopped thinking he was worth something? Why did he think of himself like less than shit?! "Why do I think I'm not?!" He sniffled annoyed. How stupid, he couldn't even make his brain think he was good. Linda raised a hand. "It's ok. You've gone through a lot of psychological abuse, Sebastian, you have internalized many damaging ideas, but we're going to work on it." Linda smiled at her patient.

Seb sniffled. Stupid, dumb brain, internalizing bad things and ending up caring about what others think of him. "Can I get a hug?" Linda rolled her eyes at the pout and big kicked puppy eye. "OK, Fine." She smiled and patted his hair. Ooh~ His hair was so soft and fluffy~

Seb relaxed into the hug. Linda was so nice.

-.-

"I hate, HATEEEE changing your diapers." Seb glared at the little naked twins on his bed. "You STINK!" The 7 month old twins responded by laughing loudly. "No! Don't laugh! How mean!" He grabbed some new diapers from the bin and changed the two babies. "Nasty babies~" He cooed, making Zoe and Zully laugh even louder, daddy was so crazy! Zoe kicked her legs so hard she ended up smacking Seb in the chin with a tiny barefoot. "OW!"

"Ok, babies." Seb rubbed his recently shaved face. He had a nice little goatee again! "We're going to go to supermarket to buy food! Yay!"

"Papa!"

"Yeah, Papa will take you to the supermarket to enchant everybody with our adorableness! Mama is working but we will surprise her with a nice lunch, won't we?!" He started changing Zoe, but while he focused on her, Zully tried crawling away. "No, stay!" He tried to change Zully, but then Zoe tried to crawl away. "NOO! STOP IT!" Then the brunet stopped. How stupid, he had powers! He manually changed Zoe as he changed Zully with his powers into something warmer (the temperature had dropped and snow was everywhere), like little adorable jackets and little hats and little mittens. He decided to use the ones Mabel made, they finally fit the twins. Just to prove he was a GOOD uncle and was thankful for the presents his sweet niece Shooting Star made for him, he snapped a few photos to text her. Actually, he snapped photos of EVERYTHING the twins did and posted them on Photogram. 

He strapped the babies into their carseats, always making sure they were secure enough, and started driving. "What music do you like? Do you have a music taste already?" He wanted to look back at the backseat but he really had to focus on the road, the pains of only having one eye. Besides, he had to be extra vigilant on the road. Didn't want to risk any accidents while he had his precious daughters on board.

He made it to the supermarket and opened up the portable stroller to put them in. The stroller had a place for bags so it doubled as a shopping cart. Both him and the twins loved the attention, Zoe and Zully had no shame in showing it, smiling widely and babbling at the people who cooed at them, Seb was a bit shy-er, but he liked when they said he had pretty daughters...

Oh my God! Are they TWINS?!" A teenage girl squealed at him and the babies while he contemplated between different types of pasta. "Oh, yes, identical! Though Zoe's eyes are different from Zully's." The girl cooed at the babies and told Seb she loved how he was shopping with them before running away. Seb thought that was weird but just laughed it off. He liked people admiring his kids. He got some food, a huge container of formula and a box of diapers, plus some new toys, they deserved them for being SUCH CUTE BABIES!

He went to the checkout line, the twins were shaking their colorful new toys and he groaned loudly when he saw the woman in front of him was "THAT" kind of woman… "What do you mean you can't just give it to me!? My SON WANTS that!"

"Ma'am, the animals come inside a package you have to buy before opening, I can't open all the packages to find you a hippo. They're capsules, I don't know which one's a hippo, you just have to buy them until you find a hippo." The poor cashier explained. "But can't you make an exception~? My Timmy has been doing SO well at school! And I promised I would find him the last animal for his collection!"

"Moommyyy! Can I get my hippoo noowwww?!"

Seb pulled his skin until his eye disappeared. There were people huffing behind him. He crouched next to the oblivious babies. "You turn out like that, we're going to have serious problems." He whispered before straightened up again and massaged his temples with his fingers. "Lady, can you PLEASE move the hell up?!"

The woman turned around, huffing and glaring at the (quite handsome) man. She blinked when she realized her mistake before making a sad face to get pity. "Oh, I'm sorry~ It's just that this RUDE boy doesn't want to sell me the toy my little boy wants~!" She saw the twins gurgling in their stroller. "You are a father! You SURELY know how much it HURTS when your little babies are denied something!"

Seb stared at her with an unexpressive eye. "The kid is selling you the dumb toy, he just can't open it like you want, and he won't. I won't teach my daughters to think the world owes them! Can you please just buy a toy and move?"

The woman huffed loudly. "How rude!"

"Rude, me?!" Seb laughed. "You're the one delaying the line for everybody and raising a brat child!" Her child was throwing a tantrum and crying.

"Are you telling me how to raise MY child?!"

"Lady, I don't give a single chip how you raise him, just Move!" Seb growled. The woman was pissed at being sassed, while the other customers stared in shock. The woman demanded for Seb to be removed from the store for being RUDE and when the poor teen cashier asked her to please leave, she shrieked. "I'm not leaving without that stupid hippo! I want to talk to your manager!"

While they waited for the manager, the woman stood aside and the boy moved to scan Seb's groceries. "Thank you...I have to deal with these type of people every day." He complained. Seb took the babies' toys to be scanned and quickly returned them so they didn't cry. Seb stared at the woman angrily arguing with the poor manager, at her pouting kid before looking at the box of packages with a devilish grin. This was for making him lose time! "How much are these shites anyway?" The teen smiled. "Like, two bucks each."

"Give me two." The woman turned to look at Seb as he bought, paid for and opened the packages. The nice colors had drawn the twins' attention. The first one was a panda and the second… Oh hoh ho! "AAWW! Look at this ADORABLE Hippo~~!"

The woman gasped. "You STOLE that from me!" Everyone stared at her, even the manager was making a face like 'Are you serious?'

"Nah, I paid the huge amount of TWO dollars for this, this is MINE! Was this the one you wanted~~?" Seb asked sweetly. "I bought the capsules and I just so happened to get one with a hippo, lucky me huh?" He waved the hippo in the air, moving his cart aside so other people can have their purchases rang up.

"Give me that hippo." the woman demanded. Seb mock frowned. "I paid for it, it's mine. If you want it so much, buy it from me." The woman pulled out two dollars and Seb raised an eyebrow. "Nah ah~ There are 20 animals in this set, meaning I had a 1 out of 20 chance of getting the hippo, so I think it's worth at LEAST $20."

"What?! That's extortion!" The woman glared. Her son was pulling at her shirt. "Mommy!" He whined. "I waaaant it!" The woman sneered at Seb, who smiled sweetly. "Well, you could just keep buying the capsules until you happen to get a Hippo, or you could buy one for sure, for $20…"

The people gathered to watch the exchange, even the manager had stayed to watch, really amused. The twins were just smiling widely at their daddy. They liked when he smiled! "That's RIDICULOUS!" She screamed. "Just accept the money, you cyclops!"

Seb stopped and his smile dropped. The woman grinned, knowing like the bitch she was that she touched a nerve, and the crowd gaped, some even covered their mouths. Seb's eye twitched. "You know what, Karen? I'm keeping the hippo. I think it's quite cute." Seb said with a deadpan expression. He handed the panda and hippo to his daughters and turned around to leave. The woman gasped even as her son started screaming and kicking his legs. "Noo! Mommy I WANT that hippo!"

The woman rushed forward and tried to snatch the hippo out of Zully's hand. She didn't make it that far since Seb steered the stroller out of the way and got between the woman and his children. "First of all. NEVER touch my daughters." He growled, his eye about to turn red. He might be short, but he was still looking down at the woman. "And second, did you just attempt to STEAL from me?" Seb glared. The woman screamed at him, "Give me that hippo! My son deserves it more than your damn slobbering brats!"

And that was about when the manager called security to escort the woman and her son out of the store. Seb grinned and the people around them were grinning widely, satisfied to know that awful woman got what she deserved. The manager offered Seb two more toys for the bad experience he had. "It's ok, this is the only store that sells the twins' special formula anyway." He grinned.

Seb went back home, Zully had lost the hippo (they had been biting it) between the seats of the sofa cushions, but they didn't mind much since they had their fist to continue biting. The brunet laughed himself silly for a while, even as he cooked and made some mashed potatoes and parboiled chicken for the twins.

When Wanda came back, he proudly presented the toys to her as he explained how he became the hero at the supermarket, and the blonde laughed loudly. "Oh, I would have loved to see that!" She pulled him close to give him a kiss. "You're such a cutie~Giving that awful woman what she deserved~"

"And the girls now have new toys!" "What a hero~!" Wanda purred, making her boyfriend blush even more. She always reminded him how great he was, even over the tiniest things. It made him feel… nice. They pulled the twins' hands out of their mouths before they bit through the skin again. Wanda sighed. Baby steps for all her babies, praise for Seb for his self esteem and more durable toys for the teething children.

There was a lot Wanda had to do.

-.-

So Wanda caved and got some chew toys meant for dogs for her children. Hey, it's not like the store would know they were for her teething kids and not teething puppies, right? It was still somewhat embarrassing. Especially when Wanda brought the kids to work with her and one of her co-workers commented, "Isn't that a dog toy?" To which Wanda was forced to say that her kids just "-have very strong jaws!" and hope that her face stopped being bright red.

Seb's mom laughed loud at the photo Seb shared with her and Stan, but HER mom didn't find it very funny that she was "treating her children as if they were dogs." Wanda massaged her head. She DIDN'T. She loved her daughters, she HATED when her mom made these kind of comments "Mom, they destroy the normal ones...and if they don't have anything to chew on, they'll bite themselves and get hurt." She tried to explain. "Then just buy more! You don't need to demean them with dog toys!" Her mom picked up Zully who was hitting Zoe with a plastic ball and kissed their cheek. "Look at them! They are the prettiest girls ever!" Linda adjusted Zully's bear hair clip. "Imagine I had given you dog toys as a child!"

"...What if I told you it was Sebastian's idea…?" Wanda tried instead. Her mother NEVER critiqued Seb, only her, because apparently she wasn't doing a good job as a mom...

"Well, at least he has proposed something! What have you done to get your daughters to stop?"

"...Followed Seb's advice…?" Wanda grimaced, her heart clenching tightly. "You're their mother, Wanda." Linda shook her head in disappointment. "You have to know what's good for them. Seb had an idea, but you just followed it blindly?"

"So it's not HIS fault for thinking about the dog toys?!" Wanda exclaimed. "He THOUGHT about it, you DID it." Her mother pointed out. "You should have thought of your own solution to make them stop."

Wanda groaned. Uuugh, nothing she did was ever right. "Well FINE, I'm gonna go think of something ELSE to do." She tried not to snap at her mother, she really did. It was just so difficult sometimes. Wanda looked up a few things on the internet and one of the things was to rub some spicy pepper on their fingers so they wouldn't stick their hands in their mouths...

The babies didn't appreciate it. At all. The children wailed at the TRAISON Mommy committed. They thought it was going to be yummy but it WASN'T.

Wanda winced and profusely apologized to her babies. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Seb had had some of it on his finger as well, just to try it himself, and was now staring at his finger in fear.

Don't suck it, don't suck it!

Zoe and Zully ended up sucking their feet as they glared at their parents. Wanda sighed and put the pepper on their feet too. Zoe couldn't believe this betrayal from mommy!

"I'm so sorry baby, but you need to stop biting yourself, we don't want you to get hurt anymore." Wanda picked her up and kissed her nose. Zoe glared at her with her mismatched eyes. "You know, Seb, the twins are very expressive for 7 months old…" Wanda hummed. "Do you understand what mommy says?" She asked Zoe this time. "Don't be angry with me~" Zoe huffed and continued glaring. "... just chew on your dog toys…" Wanda sighed.

So they gave the children dog toys and Wanda continued putting peppers on their hands so they didn't bite themselves. Wanda couldn't help but think that this still FELT like training a dog...

They played with the babies for a while and at some point...Sebastian forgot his fingers also had pepper. He started biting his finger out of boredom. And started screaming. "AAAAAHHH!" before he started crying, falling to the floor rubbing his tongue. The twins hummed, you see?! It hurt! And crawled towards their dad to hit his face with some cubes they were playing with. Wanda snorted. She was surrounded by babies…

Seb was a good stay home dad, and he had come to realize it was something he really enjoyed doing. He watched after the kids, he cooked and cleaned… but it was getting harder to do everything at once. He was getting more clients now, more dresses and suits to tailor, and he still had classes. All that took TIME. Time he had to use to take care of the household.

They were always crawling everywhere and keeping an eye on them was absolutely necessary because they would pull on things and eat them if they could. Keeping up with the two of them was hard, they crawled so fast!

Then Seb slapped himself. "Duh!" He had powers! He sometimes forgot about this useful advantage over the average meatsack!

The twins floated in the air with some toys as Seb worked on the clothes he was asked to make. It had gotten so natural for him to use his powers that he didn't fear dropping the kids. It was just somewhat annoying when a baby floated in front of him, crawling and kicking their legs. "Go float somewhere else, shoo!" Seb laughed and gently pushed them away. Like baby balloons, the twins floated away.

He searched for his fabric scissors in his bag and found a crumpled paper. Curious, the man unfolded it and frowned a bit. Oh, right. The contest the school was organizing...He didn't even consider it when he was given the pamphlet...

"Should I? I still have time…" Seb looked at his babies. He pursed his lips in thought. If...he participated and won, he could win the prize and-and it said he would get recognition! "It-It even said I'd get promotion fro-from a fashion company!" Zoe floated towards him and hugged his face, little feet wrapping around his neck.

"Do you know what that means?" "Aah! Bahpah?!" Zully tried as they floated past and Seb squeezed their round cheeks. "Exactly! If I win, I can get recognized for-for my designs! And maybe, if-if I'm lucky, I can work more professionally and be famous!" His eye sparkled when it suddenly shattered. But what if he failed? He always fucked up, he didn't do anything right, he was going to fuck up because he was a fuck up, he would never win. He was getting too excited, his happiness wasn't letting him think straight.

What if he failed and the school threw him out?! What if Wanda was so disappointed she left him and never let his daughters see him because he was failure?! His breathing got louder and turned into scared, panicked gasps.

"-A"

"-Apa."

"-Papa!" Seb opened his eye and looked at the source of the voice. Zully was staring at him with brown tearful eyes. "Papa, nuh-uh!" The baby pleaded. They were still floating (thank Ax) and watching him panic. Seb heaved a deep breath of air.

He had to stop, he didn't want-he didn't' want the babies to see him like this…He-He didn't want to continue, he didn't want to end up hurting himself, not in front of the girls. They had brought him back to reality. "Zu-Zully...you said yo-your first word…" Seb smiled tearfully and hugged his daughters. "I'm sorry, I promise I will get better, I-I'm going to participate in that contest, I-I can do it, right? I'll prove to you two that I CAN do things! I can't be scared forever! I'm Sebastian William Pines dammit!"

Zoe and Zully sighed contently as they rested their heads on daddy's chest. That was much better~

"You definitely have anxiety." Linda told Sebastian simply. Just a statement of fact. Seb nodded. "Oh, um… is that bad?" He bit his lip. Linda adjusted her glasses. "Well, it's not good, but it is manageable. There are pills you can take to help calm down and we will still work on ways to regulate your anxiety."

"But if I take pills, everyone will know I am damaged." Seb pouted. "Sebastian, you ARE damaged." Linda smiled kindly, making the man glare. "Thanks a lot."

"You've been hurt throughout all your childhood. It's this same trauma that's causing your anxiety, it's the one that doesn't let you trust yourself for something as basic as a contest." Seb pouted at that. Why did he even tell her what happened?! Urgh!

"So the pills will help you to NOT be hurt anymore." Linda told him gently. Seb whined. "But I don't want people to know I'm messed up in the head." Seb protested.

Linda gave him a flat look. "On average, one in six Americans take a psychiatric drug to deal with their depression, anxiety or other disorders." She stared at him. "Anxiety is COMMON. Yours is more intense, but it's not all that different from thousands of other people here in the states. Around 17%. Many take antidepressants. Others take sedatives. It's so common now that some doctors automatically prescribe such medicine even before doing a thorough check to see if their patient really needs it."

"Then do I-" Seb started to say before Linda interrupted. "Oh no, you definitely need sedatives. I made sure before I prescribed you. I wanted to be sure." She sat back in her chair. "Sebastian, you need the medical help. It's not a problem, you're not broken, just damaged. And you can heal. I believe you can. I know you can."

Seb grumpily accepted the prescription and awkwardly told Wanda what Dr. Linda told him. Wanda had been bathing the twins and without looking up, she smiled. "Well, that's good, she knows what will help you, it's her job, I'm paying her for a reason." She looked at Seb when he sat cross legged on the floor to help with the babbling and excited babies. Daddy was back! "So...You don't mind me taking...anti-crazy pills?" His pout turned into a frown when Zoe splashed him with a loud "BAH!"

"No, duh. I want you to get better, all your family wants you to get better." Wanda stroked his now wet cheek before kissing it. "Because you're an amazing human being and we want you to be happy."

"...Well, I'm definitely better as a human than I was as a triangle, aren't I?" Seb asked, tilting his head to the side. Wanda adored when he did that. "Of course~ Bad triangle, good Seb."

"Goo Papa!" Zoe hit the water again. "And a good papa, yes, thanks for reminding me." Wanda giggled. "Seriously, the kids are so vocal, it is amazing!"

Seb smiled widely. "I-I love you." Wanda flicked his nose. "I love you more."

"Ow! Now I take that back!" Seb covered his nose as the blonde laughed.

-.-

They had a Christmas family meeting, the 2nd one where all of them were together. Thanksgiving and Hanukkah was spent with the inlaws, or in Fordsie's case, after Fiddleford's insistence, at his place.

Dipper and Dillon were hiding under the table, playing videogames with headphones as Mabel skipped around, singing at the top of her lungs the songs of her now favorite movie. "FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREEVVEERRR!" She went to see it with some friends and she loved it!

Shermie's eye twitched and broke a candy cane. "Help." Abigail took a deep breath and massaged her eyes.

Ford blinked as his niece sang. "So...this movie you narrate sounds nothing like the original Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen."

"Yeah?! IT'S EVEN BETTER!" Dipper and Dillon poked their heads out. "Freezer is Overrated!"

"YOU are overrated!" The teenage girl stuck her tongue out.

Stan ran a hand through his hair and exhaled. "Oof! Good thing you're a boy, kid!" He poked Diego's leg as the baby hungrily suckled his meal before looking at Seb. "Look at your future." He teased him.

The little twins were crawling around trying to grab the decorations but Wanda was keeping an eye on them. "Nah, I like disney songs, I wouldn't mind having the girls singing, they'll have to tolerate ME singing!" Seb grinned. He liked to sing, singing was fun!

Zully squeaked when Mabel suddenly grabbed them. "Hello, little baby~ You're a princess just like me! And you're thinking maybe~ It's a pretty cool thing to be~" Mabel looked at her family. "This a deleted song of the movie by the way~!"

""We KNOW!"" Her parents groaned.

"One, two, three together! Clap together, snap together! You and me!" Mabel was bouncing Zully everywhere, and the poor baby sobbed to be let down. "Shooting Star~, she just ate, she's going to vomit on you~" Seb warned lightly. Too late, Zully coughed up their formula onto Mabel's sweater. The teenager groaned but gently placed her cousin back on the ground. "Quick! I need a tub of water!"

Mabel ran away shrieking in distress while Seb went to coo at Zully who was rubbing their eyes. "AAAWW! Are you tired, pumpkin? Yes? I know dealing with Mabel is really tiring~" He picked Zully up and the baby snuggled against his chest. "At least she stopped singing…" Shermie sighed in relief. "Thanks, Zully." He cooed.

Wanda and Seb went to put the babies to sleep, along with Stan who put Diego to sleep (the poor man was still getting used to taking care of an infant son, he loved Dillon because he SPOKE) and returned with the rest of the family. They chatted about their lives. Sebastian, having been gently prodded by Linda during one of their sessions, got the courage to speak up about what was going on in his life, even when he didn't think it was all that impressive.

"DUDE! You should have told us you got your diplomaaa!" Shermie wailed quietly, because 3 little babies were sleeping a few rooms away. Seb rubbed the back of his neck. "Kid, it's seriously nothing, I mean, I should have done that like, decades ago…"

"It's not nothing! You've wanted your diploma for DECADES!" Shermie insisted. He grinned. "I'm proud of you, man."

Seb looked down, blushing. Mabel, Dipper and Dillon chuckled softly as they drank hot chocolate from cool Christmas-y cups. Uncle Seb never liked to get compliments~ He got all embarrassed!

"And he has submitted a drawing for a contest at the school he's taking a couple of courses in~" Wanda betrayed him and Seb stared at her wide eyed. "Friedmann!" He hissed.

"What? You never said you were studying." Ford commented softly. "And a contest? What of?" The scientist asked. "Will you win money?!" Stan asked with excitement and earned a smack on the arm from Carla. Kari smiled. "Oh baby, that's wonderful!" Seb blushed and buried his face in his hands.

Wanda laughed. "It's a design thing. For a fashion show." She was very proud of her boyfriend. She didn't even care if he won or not, she was proud at the fact that he had the courage to DO it. It was enough for her.

"Li-Linda says I have to trust myself more so I said why the hell not! And quickly sent it in before I regretted it…" Ford stared at his triplet. Seb always gave the impression he was so confident and full of himself...Knowing it was all fake was...frustrating. If HE hadn't been so full of himself, maybe he would have noticed his brother needed help…

"And well now that we're all talking about embarrassing things about me, next week I'll start taking pills to suppress the craziness~ yay~" "They're for anxiety, he's been medically diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder." Wanda clarified with a deadpan expression.

"Why didn't you tell us before?!" Dipper demanded before angrily sipping his chocolate.

Ford blinked slowly as Stan, Shermie and their mother scolded a groaning Seb. Woah...His brother had anxiety. He suddenly snorted, lucky for him it was soft enough no one heard it. The mental image of Bill Cipher suffering from a human mind problem such as anxiety was so surreal it was ridiculous. But his brother wasn't Bill. Same soul didn't mean he was necessarily him. He had grown up as a human, as a Sebastian, so he was a Sebastian, despite how he used to be a Bill.

And it was serious. He shouldn't even be joking about it in the first place, 'What even, Stanford!?' He scolded himself.

"Because~ Pinetree~ I don't think it's important so neither should you. Hey, isn't it past your bedtime already? Santa won't come if you don't sleep." Seb looked at the kids. "I won't say he's not real, because my experience tells me it could be otherwise-" Dipper started saying before his twin interrupted. "Jokes on you! We don't have a bedtime anymore! We're 14!"

"Bedtimes don't really work anymore now that Dipper practically injects himself with energetic drinks to stay alive." Abigail glared at her son. Their stores of coffee were running low and everytime they buy more it would be halfway gone before the end of the week. Dipper twitched. "I'm a high schooler! I need my caffeine!"

""You need to sleep"" Seb and Shermie said at the same time. "Seriously, he almost lost his body to a demon the summer he stayed with me because he didn't sleep for days." Seb informed his brother. Dipper complained he could have solved it on his own. Mabel's eye twitched, remembering the note and simply looked at her twin, her long earrings swinging and put a hand on his shoulder. "No."

Shermie twitched. Again with the...demon and monster thing! He was the youngest but he wasn't stupid! Why did everyone have to keep up this demon-thing? Was there an inside joke he didn't get?

They all waited until it was midnight to have a toast. "I wanna try!" Mabel made grabby hands at Ford's glass. "Please please, uncle Fordsie?" She made puppy eyes. Ford frowned. "You're 14."

Mabel pouted. Umm…"For science~?" Ford paused but Shermie reached over to swipe the glass from him. "No. No alcohol for the kids until they're 21." He shuddered. "Or older. Not gonna let them do what I did…" Getting drunk and becoming a teenage father, yeah, that sucked.

Mabel glared at her dad and crossed her arms. "The girls at school drink." Shermie raised an eyebrow. "If your friends jumped from a bridge, would you?" Mabel laughed. "Dad, you raised no sheep but a LEADER! I'd be organizing that jumping!" The girl patted his arm and went to get some soda.

Ford snorted at Shermie's look. "I'm so confused but so proud right now…" He drank Ford's drink in one gulp and returned his brother's empty glass. "You shouldn't drink either you light-weight! Wouldn't want another tattoo~" Shermie smacked Ford's neck, winked and left, laughing like a good annoying little brother. Ford took a six fingered hand to his neck, cheeks flustered. "STANLEY!" Did-Did he SERIOUSLY tell everyone?!

Stan was guffawing loudly on the other side of the room. "What? It's a great story!" He took another swig of his beer. "It's your fault for getting drunk." He waggled his eyebrows at his older brother. Ford groaned. "We ran out of water! The alcohol was safer to drink than that contaminated, dirty-"

"I know. But that's what made it so funny!" Stan laughed until Ford threw a pillow at him.

They spent the holidays together before dispersing back into their own lives.

\---

Seb wasn't doing well. He was curled up on his psychiatrist's couch, sobbing. Dr. Linda closed her eyes, hurting a little as well. "Sebastian, what happened?" He had called in the morning, pleading her to go earlier, he said he NEEDED it. Linda managed to move her schedule a little bit and had him come hours earlier. He had come in, miserable and unable to really explain until he laid down on her couch and just burst into tears.

Seb gasped. "I-I-I'm ssssad…." He slurred through his sobbing. Dr. Linda massaged her temples. "Sebastian, do you want to talk about it? I have no idea what's going through your head right now."

He stayed quiet for long 5 minutes, with the occasional sob now and then, until he finally managed to speak. "...The twins will hate me...when-when they grow up…" "And why is that?" Linda asked softly.

"Because I'm a failure! And they-they'll be S-SO embarrassed! S-So ashamed of having a useless father, they will hate me!"

"You are not useless." Linda said firmly. "What happened?"

Seb wiped his tears angrily, hand just lingering above his wrist. He hadn't touched it, Linda was proud, but he had needed to come. If she had said no, he'd have a new set of scars. "It-It's...Remember the-the stupid competition I TOLD you was a TERRIBLE idea?!" He glared. He blamed her and his daughters for making him feel capable of something like that.

When he wasn't. He was stupid and useless. He pulled a crumpled paper out of his pants pocket and threw it at her direction. "BEhold! The SHITTIEST PIECE OF sHIT ON EARTH!" His voice cracked a bit.

"I-I was SO stupid to trust you!" His eye welled up with tears once again. Linda could clearly see how betrayed he felt. Linda gently took his hand. "Sebastian, everyone can fail sometimes, that's perfectly normal. But isn't this just your first try? I'm sure you can try again."

"And I'll just FAIL AGAIN!" Seb wailed. Linda gently helped him sit up and handed him a tissue. "Sebastian. When I was a child, I was terrible at speaking." She started. Sebastian blinked at her. What? B-but she was therapist! She's suppose to be good a talking and giving advice and stuff, right? Linda nodded. "I was quite shy, believe it or not. But I wanted to get over it. So I auditioned for my school play… and I was rejected."

Sebastian listened quietly as she spoke. "I was really upset, angry at myself for being so bad at it."

"That's bad…"

"But I kept trying." The blonde smiled. "I kept trying until one day I finally got the character in a school play."

"And was it nice?"

"No, it was horrible, the place caught on fire in the middle of the play." Linda said and Seb laughed loudly. Linda smiled. "So this is just your first failure. And you'll probably fail many more times. But that's fine. Because you can keep trying. And hopefully, when you DO get your own fashion show, it won't catch fire." She teased. Seb laughed and shook his head. "NAH! If it's me, it'll DEFINITELY catch fire!" He sounded fine with that though.

The brunet's smile disappeared. "Ok, but my drawing still sucked...They said I didn't meet their standards…" Linda checked the crumpled drawing and frowned a bit. She couldn't see it quite well, with all the scratches Seb had done over it and all the angry 'SHIT' written over it. "I'm sure this USED to be lovely…"

"I don't get it! Why was it bad?! I did everything they asked me to! And it was still REJECTED!" he showed her the e-mail he got on his phone.

Linda read the message. "Well, here says REQUIREMENTS, not standards." "It's the same!" The therapist entered the website that still had the requirements listed to participate. "We can check if maybe you missed something, ok?"

Seb huffed. "Fine."

"Um...you sent your full name?" "Yes." "Copy of your ID?" "Yes!" "A scanned drawing with the correct measurements?" "YES!" "A recent document to prove you are studying at the school?"

Seb stopped, frowning slightly. "...They didn't ask that." Linda turned the phone over to show Sebastian that section. "It's here. I think you might have accidentally missed it?"

"..." Seb made a weird choked sound, as if trying to scream, but his throat was closed. Finally, when Linda was starting to get worried (he wasn't breathing, his face was going red), he whispered. "Are...you kidding me…? He let out a defeated sigh. "You know what? I'm done. I can't take this anymore. This was stupid anyway!"

"Sebastian…"

The brunet stomped over to her, glaring. "WHAT?!" He screamed. "You ARE NOT going to help me! NOTHING is going to 'HELP ME GET BETTER' if my STUPID DAMAGED BRAIN can't do ANYTHING RIGHT!" Seb shrieked as loud as he could. "So not only will the twins be ashamed to have a USELESS father, they will be ashamed to have an STUPID one as WELL!"

"You're not stupid, Sebastian." Linda led him back to the couch. "Actually, I think that perhaps you might have an Attention Deficit Disorder. But I would need to get you properly tested to be sure."

Seb's fuming slowly calmed down. "I...heard of that...thing...Um, I-I know someone who had it...His-his father told me, he took some pills and all, and then he said that maybe I had that…"

"When was that?" Linda asked. "Um, after I was kicked out of my house...Um, Maybe 18? I think? I worked as a babysitter." "Did you get the diagnosis?" Seb shook his head. "I didn't think too much about it, actually…" If he was correct, at that age he had been busy dying of pain and didn't want to put another thing on himself.

"Well, next session we'll work on a diagnosis, alright?" Seb groaned loudly and laid back. "Seriously, though! Who the fuck says 'Here, use this vessel, but Haha! I won't tell you I specifically designed it to make you suffer. Here: have a stupid body with a horrible eye, six fingers, a damaged brain and burning scars! And oh! It leaks a lot! And you won't be able to control it! The Axolotl is SO STUPID!"

Linda nodded slowly. There it was again, Sebastian's feelings of his body being something that someone else gave him, specifically dysfunctional. She looked up the Axolotl that Sebastian always mentioned but all she found was an endangered species of newt.

"Sebastian, do you believe in God?" "Believe how? Like, I think it exists? Or in the sense that I trust him?" "Both." "I know this fucker exist, so I don't BELIEVE, I KNOW. But I don't trust him, though I don't really despise him anymore, just hate him a little bit. And I have never seen the gods that humans worship, but I'm sure it's the same entity, so no, I don't believe in God in the worship way either."

Linda nodded. Ok, so no religious approach. "You only have ONE body, Seb. And no, your Bill self doesn't count. As Seb, you have one, and you are just the way you are." Linda told him simply.

"So defective? I should just accept it?" Seb huffed. "You need to accept that you are the way you are and that doesn't mean you're defective. Just different. You are you, you have your own will and the power to make choices. Now, what you do with that is a completely different story." Linda adjusted her glasses. "There are lots of people with ADHD. Are you going to tell me that they're all defective too?"

"...well, kinda… not really… but not as bad as me…" Seb winced. Jack was a good boy. He was also a successful figure skater now! He wasn't defective at all!

Linda chuckled. "Oh, Sebastian...Do you think you're the WORST on the planet? There's NO ONE who has it worse than you?"

The man pouted and shrugged. "Are you the MOST stupid, the LEAST fortunate and the WORST at EVERYTHING compared to the 7 billion people alive?"

"...No…Many people don't have where to sleep or to eat-" He knew, he had been there. "-There are many dumb people...and I'm way more intelligent...Like, I managed to fool the government agents...and...avoided the police a lot and...well, I...I did fix the portal after self teaching myself physics...my friend Miz from another dimension did help to finish the Bio-Scanner but I did all the other work...and…" Seb stared at his drawing Linda put on a table. "...I did get the highest score in one practice...at-at school…" He sighed. "I'm not the worst…" Seb said. Uh…That actually...felt nice.

Dr. Linda grinned. It was nice to hear him finally say it. He seemed to feel better as well, smiling softly. It was a start.

"Ok, so I lost my chance to participate in this stupid contest because I was ssss-" Seb looked at Linda's face and bit his tongue. "Because...I didn't pay enough attention and...got me disqualified…" Linda nodded, yeah, good, much better. Seb bit his inner cheeks as he thought. "So...What do I do now?"

Linda stayed silent to allow him to talk. "I...I wanted to participate because that could...help me get a better job. I mean, I love tailoring, it's fun, and I get clients to make personalize clothes as well...but, I don't know...my brothers are...doing better, I wanna be like them...but I don't know how."

Linda nodded. Sebastian thought about it and continued, "So I should look up other shows or competitions that I could apply for. And read the guidelines and requirements really carefully…" He thought some more. "...and I should have Wanda read it over with me so she can tell me if I missed something…"

Linda smiled. "Very good, Sebastian." She saw him smile back. "Also, even if a company doesn't buy your designs, you can always start your own. Didn't you tell me once that your brother Stanley started his own company, and Stanford has his research center as well? Ask Stanley for some advice. If what you've told me is true, he obviously loves you and would love to help you."

Seb started moving from side to side, distractedly. Yeah, Fez would know, he was good at this, this Fez at least, he was proud of his Fez, he was a cool one. "Yeah...You're right, after coming back from the portal he had resumed his job on it as if nothing happened. He likes his job, he sells other people's stuff...Um, I, like, had, a 'store' when I was in Gravity Falls, some people bought...but usually I got asked for tailoring…" He shook his head. Focus. Getting distracted. "If I open a store and it works, I CAN be more famous, no? And I can get more money and that's always better, considering the twins like to destroy their stuff…"

"Who doesn't love money?" Linda chuckled and Seb grinned widely. "Do you really think it will work though? Everything I do seems to go WRONG."

"Maybe it's because of your lack of attention to some things? Now that we're also going to work on that, I bet things will work better." The woman said calmly. Seb did seem to have ADHD though, for what she heard...Some things started to make much more sense, how he claimed his body was broken because he never stopped moving, and how he was hit because he spoke too fast or didn't read the instructions, or was impulsive...Geez, that poor child. Maybe if he had been diagnosed earlier...At least he would have known his mind wasn't broken.

Sebastian seemed to do much better over the rest of their session. Linda was glad for that.

"I'm worth it!" Seb declared at the end of the session. He didn't quite believe it yet...but it was a start. Linda nodded. "Yes, you are! I want to hear it louder!"

"I'M WORTH IT!" The man screamed and Linda nodded with a smile. "You are. You have to believe you are…" She finally addressed Seb's wrists which had been moments away from being cut open had she not agreed to meet with him earlier than usual.

"You will grab a marker and write some good things on your arm. You can get help, but I want you to realize it yourself, you are worth it and you will tell yourself why." Linda told him. "Write them on your arm so you'll see them."

"It's kinda dumb, but ok…It can be anything?"

"Yes, even the tiniest positive thing goes there. Then you make a list and show it to me next session." Seb nodded with a small smile. "Ah, okay. I can do that. Um… thanks Linda…"

He went to pick up his little daughters from their grandma Linda's house, he still thought it was hilarious how his therapist and in law had the same names, and squealed loudly when he saw them. "WHERE are the PRETTIEST baby princesses on THIS AWFUL PLANET?!"

The twins squealed loudly when they saw their daddy and raised their hands to be picked up. "Babah! Papa!"

He picked up the two of them, making them whine when he rubbed their cheeks with his beard (No! BAD DADDY!) and he examined them, all while Wanda's mom melted by the door. "Hey~ Are these dresses? I didn't buy you those, did you STEAL them?!" He gasped exaggeratedly to make the babies squeal.

"I bought them!" Mom Linda squealed. "Aren't they PRECIOUS?!" She loved dressing them in all sorts of frilly things. The babies were forced to deal with it because they didn't have a say yet. Zoe did bite and claw at her dress though, not liking how itchy the frills were.

"They could be wearing a DIAPER or nakey and they'd still be precious~ But nudity is condemned by humans so don't do that~ No~" He looked at the woman. "Thanks for taking care of them, ma'am! My therapy was nice today." He smiled brightly.

Mom Linda stroked his cheek, he didn't flinch anymore, and smiled. "I'm so glad, sweetie. You got your pills yet?" Seb smiled sheepishly. "I ordered them, Wands is picking them today after work."

The woman nodded and gave him a bag with the other cute things she bought for her granddaughters. "Try them all! I bought all the store I think! You're the clothes expert though." Seb blushed and sputtered a 'thank you' before leaving, almost forgetting his kids in the process.

He spent the day thinking good things about himself. He got very few things. He made delicious dinner, he always finished his requests on time (even if he had to stay awake all night because he procrastinated and worked on too many things at the same time), he always made the twins eat their baby food when Wanda NEVER could...And he was VERY good looking.

He could have self esteem problems, but he was a HANDSOME dude with self esteem problems...He was a mess. But he did feel a little better that his arm had things written on it. The marker covered up his scars and if he wrote the words in a cool cursive, it actually looked like fancy tattoos. HAH! Cooler looking tattoos than Sixer's All Star! And better than the damn Zodiac Bill2 put on his back. These were marks about what stuff Seb did well! These were marks to be proud of!

His heart clenched a bit, but it was from happiness. It was...nice to feel good with himself for a change. He made beautiful babies! He added when he saw Zoe sneeze like the adorable being she was. "We'll take a bath, ok?" He took a photo of his forearm and then protected it in a plastic bag. He wanted to keep it as long as possible.

He took a bath with the twins, making it easier to clean them and they played for a bit before it was time to feed them and put them to bed. That was how Wanda found him, just wearing his pants, with the twins curled up on his warm chest and hungrily drinking their milk. He couldn't move or the twins would scream and cry.

"Ooooo~~" Wanda raised her eyebrows and smiled as she let her gaze roam up and down Seb's shirtless body, biting her lower lip. Nice~ "May I know what do I owe this blessed sight?" The woman grinned as she walked towards the bed.

She kissed the twins first though, they got jealous of their daddy if she didn't greet them first. Zoe was holding her bottle like a big girl but Zully was leaning on Seb all comfortable and waiting for him to hold the bottle for them while they suckled.

Wanda cooed. Lazy baby girl~

"I just...forgot...I made their bottles and laid down." Seb told her. Wanda laughed. "Well, I'm not complaining…" She laid down and trailed her fingers up his chest. Seb blushed. "Wanda!" He wailed. Wanda purred. "I'm jealous that the girls get to have you all for themselves~" She batted her eyes at him. "We haven't had a chance to spend some quality~time together~"

Seb blushed harder. "W-Wanda! Not in front of the kids!" Wanda scoffed. "I can wait until we put them to bed."

Seb sputtered. "You have birth control, right?" Wanda pouted. "Of course! I even have condoms just in case!" She huffed. "Damn you for being so attractive." Seb grinned, reaching to grab his marker and scribble on his arm, which had been under the pillow he was laying on. "I'm super hot x2." He wrote down. Wanda gasped at the writing on his arm. "What's that?"

"Linda told me to write the good things about myself on my arm, so that I can remind myself that…" Seb paused to brace himself, "...that I'm not a failure. That I AM worth it. A-and it's actually really… nice."

Wanda maneuvered herself on the bed to not crush the babies (they barely reacted when they saw her but she couldn't blame them, who would want to move when they were on Seb?), and sat down next to him. "That's an amazing idea, sweetie~" She kissed his lips softly. "You'll finally see how amazing you are. Everyone already thinks so, you're the only one left who needs to believe it." She pulled Seb's face closer to kiss him.

Zoe finished her bottle and pouted. She wanted more! She whined loudly and threw it away. "Bahbah! Mi!" Her parents broke apart and Wanda narrowed her eyes. "Why did you throw that? No, baby." She bent down to pick it up and Seb squealed when Zoe giggled. Zully yawned. Eating was so tiring. Seb cooed at Zoe. "Aaww~ Naughty already, huh?! You won't be like me, will you? Don't make us suffer~" He nibbled her tummy gently and in return, the baby with heterochromatic eyes shrieked and bit his cheek.

Wanda was denied her quality time with Seb after the babies fell asleep, since she had to treat Seb's cheek. "URGH! It's like 3 needles inserted in my face! FUCK!"

Thanks, Zoe, you cock-blocked your mom by making dad lose any interest. She could survive another day without it though. Wanda did take many, many photos of her babies and put the girls new clothes in the drawers. She appreciated her mom's gift.

Wanda didn't mind not having quality time. She still got to see Seb peacefully sleeping, no nightmare bothering him this night and holding his marker in a hand. He was so proud of all the nice things he wrote today, which made HER proud in return. He should do this everyday until he believed the things he wrote. He had taken his first pill tonight, time to see if they helped him...

"I love you, Sebas…" She kissed his nose softly.

She left to work early next morning, and Seb would have pouted sadly (he didn't even make her breakfast!) but he noticed the Post-It on his forehead. He smiled widely when he read it. "We decided to help you~ W and Z's: Perfect dad, best partner ever."

He searched for his marker to write it down. The day was already bright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blue: I like this chapter a lot for various reasons xD A wild entitled mom appeared and because I'm obsessed with those reddit stories, don't doubt you'll see Seb facing many dumb people along the way HAHAHA  
> Leave a comment please we love seeing them and tell us what you think! 
> 
> Another thing! Because I'm dumb, the drawings I do are like, mirror like. So my left, reflects on the characters as a mirror, instead of their actual left. :,p That's why you'll always see Zoe's eyes colored different in mine and Miz's drawings, oopsie!
> 
> Mizuuma: I follow the text! You said her left eye is green! ('^')


	6. Chapter 5: Baby steps can go forward or backwards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blue: Hi guys! New chapter here! Enjoy! as always, drawings in Deviantart and I'm startnig to put all my drawings in Tumblr, so follow me xD. One drawing is from Miz, so follow her too!

"Sir, I'll ask you again, was there any dangerous loose cable or candles close to the children or any flammable object? You know that's really irresponsible, right?"

Sebastian wanted to die.

The entire building had to evacuate because the fire had started in one of the apartments. The bright blue-ish (then turned yellow) flames had been blazing from a window and it was a neighbor just about to enter the building who saw it and called 911 and pressed the emergency alarm.

"No sir, no flammable object to cause a fire…" He mumbled to the firefighter as he tried to use the 1 year olds as a shield. Only though, Yes, in fact, there was, his kids were flammable, HIS KIDS CAUSED THE FIRE.

He got distracted for a SECOND, just a SECOND, and left them playing in the living room. Zoe and Zully used anything they could reach to help themselves stand up, so apparently they thought it was a good idea to hold onto the curtain.

When Seb came back, the blue flames had consumed half the curtain and smoke was leaving from the window. He recognized he had been pretty shocked, and took a while to react. But it had been the first time he actually saw the kids use their powers! he felt excited! And horrified! Excitedfied! Before he knew it, the building's emergency alarm was blasting all over the damn place, and the fire was slowly consuming the things around his living room. He slowly picked up the babies (enchanted by the pretty fire) and walked out with the panicked neighbors. Luckily the firefighters got there, but were very confused about how the fire started.

Zoe sucked her fist as she watched the firefighter and whine at him. Don't shout at Daddy!

Wanda just arrived in the middle of the chaos, with the firefighters coming and going. She ran towards her family in a panic. Where they ok?! What happened?! Seb was chilling with the twins, and the three lit up when they saw her. "Wands!" ""Mama!""

"What happened!? Did you burn the house?!" The blonde cried. Seb shook his head and whispered. "It wasn't me, it was the twins! Their powers have ACTIVATED! I'm pretty sure it was those Mozart songs Sixer gave us for 'enrichment', whatever that meant…" He frowned in thought. "I'll murder him if he was doing an experiment on us." He declared. Wanda hugged them all tightly. "I'm just glad you're all safe…"

Seb couldn't hug her back since he was holding the babies but he kissed her lips softly. "I'm glad we're safe too." Wanda rolled her eyes. "Dork. Now we have to replace everything burnt. My books better be safe." She pouted. They didn't want to stay at the house that night, it still smelled of smoke and what Seb sniffed and described as 'baby magic' so they went to a family restaurant before going to a hotel.

Seb called his brother the next day while he and Wanda were out shopping with the babies, one on his back and one on his chest. "Hi, Sixer." He didn't give the man time to respond. "Your experiment on us worked! The babies now have their powers!" Seb drawled in annoyance.

Ford apologized to the group of scientists he was working with and got out of the lab to take the call. "My...experiment?" He didn't remember asking Seb for help with any experiment?!

"Yes. Mozart. Babies getting rich?" Seb scoffed as he picked out new curtains. Ooh~ this burgundy would look nice, matched their new couch he wanted.

Ford's eyes widened in recognition before bursting out laughing loudly, which annoyed Seb more. "This IS serious!" "Se-Seb, that was not an experiment, I just thought the girls could be introduced and educated at an early age with the classics. And it's enrichment, not getting rich." He snickered.

"Well, whatever! Your fancy music must have kick started their powers since they burned down our living room!" Seb complained. Ford blinked. "Ah, I don't believe the music did that, perhaps they're simply old enough that their powers work now?" They had seemed normal enough in their 1st birthday a few months ago. They had walked around squealing and ate cake for the first time. Zoe and Zully had shrieked excited as they tasted sugar for the first time. Mabel followed the two blonds around and took photos. LOTS of photos.

"Umghh!" Seb whined again. People who walked past him cooed at his daughters. Cute baby in the front and oh my god! Another one! Ford laughed again. "Well, you seem worried-"

"Are you kidding me? They're like little matches!" Seb groaned. Ford hummed in thought. "I could give the babies a check up if you wish? It's just a normal simple routine to determine the levels of weirdness on something and according to the type of reading, I could find a solution."

"Would you do that for me?!" Seb gasped. "Zoe, no!" The baby girl was pulling at the fabric and trying to eat it. "I'm going to move you to my back if you keep that up, young lady!" He warned. Ford grinned. "Sure, it would be interesting to finally see how your powers work and how they were even passed through genetically…"

He KNEW Seb had been demon and all...but...they were identical triplets...shouldn't they all have the same genetic code? Were their genetic codes actually different? How did Seb managed to use his own blood and fool the police with it saying it was Ford's then? Was his body later modified? Where could a 'power' gene even be?! It would have to involve a production of cells resistant to fire and the ability to use his own body as combustible fuel and ignition at the same time! It was all so exciting and intriguing.

"Oh, I see~ You want to use us as lab rats~" Seb raised an eyebrow. "Yes, well-NO! No,no,no! That's not it!" The scientist quickly assured. "Just...study your body…" Ford frowned a bit. Still sounded bad... "I won't perform experiments on your or my nieces, Sebastian. It'd be just scientific research, scanning you weirdness and seeing what's going on."

"That sounds fun...Sure, as long as you help me control the babies' powers until they are conscious enough for me to teach them. Can you believe normal human babies don't really understand what people around them talk about?!" Seb laughed. "Babies are adorable~ and dumb. YOU were a pretty dumb baby~" Sebastian laughed. Ford frowned. "Well, we were all dumb babies I'd reckon."

"Nah, I was perfectly aware of myself since day one. Ugh, it sucked! I was SOOOO bored!" Ford looked at his phone with a confused expression. "I mean, my body could just sleep and I spent most of my time floating in my mind, gosh, Ford, it was horrible not having a developed mind!"

Ford blinked. He was...aware of himself? But humans didn't have memories until they were...4-5...But, he had always wondered, since discovering Seb's past, just, HOW he knew he was Bill and how he had his memories growing up. How he managed to accept calling himself Sebastian and be a...hyperactive crazy kid growing up, but in a way different to the demon he used to be. If he had been Bill, he must have been as evil, but...Seb could just pass as a (kind of) normal child growing up. Uh. More things to find out then~

"Alright, well, you can come whenever you want." The oldest triplet finally said. "Yay!" Seb exclaimed. "Ya heard that, girls? We're welcomed whenever we want!" He pinched their noses. Zully made a face and sneezed, making Seb shiver with the sudden rush of energy that Zully's fire gave him. The baby squealed at their hand on fire and Seb screamed, then screamed again because screaming would draw attention to themselves, and 'ate' his oldest child's hand.

He was a good dad.

Wanda came back with some new cushions (having taken a few days off work to help get the house fixed from the fire) and her eyes widened. "Seb! What are you doing?!" She cried as she saw her boyfriend with his mouth enclosed around their baby's fist. Seb shrugged. "Mm twying tah puff oof da fffire." Zully whined annoyed. They wanted their hand back! They wanted to bite it as well!

Seb absorbed the fire from the baby's hand and finally freed Zully's hand, all while Wanda stared deadpan at him. "Hey, look at that! I can absorb their fire!" Seb focused on his phone again. "Did you hear that, Sixer? Sixer, you there yet? I sucked Zully's fire!"

A few customers turned to look at the weird couple. Zoe giggled and held out her hand, wanting daddy to eat her hand too! "Bllaahh!"

Ford could just hear weird noises and baby babbling. He was very confused. "Alright, um, see you later, then…" He hung up, but Seb didn't really notice, he was focused on nibbling Zoe's hand now. "Om, om, I'll eat this baby haaannd!" Wanda was blushing and trying to go pull Seb's mouth away. "Seeebb~ Noooo~ Your mouth is dirty!"

Seb let go and pouted, but pouted harder when he saw the cushions. "Wands, darling, we are not taking that to the house."

"But I like them…What's wrong with them?" Wanda frowned and looked down at the pillows she'd picked out. Seb grabbed them and threw them away deadpanning. "No. The color is simply ghastly!" He snapped his fingers a few times and turned his head, flipping his hair dramatically. Wanda sighed.

The twins on his back and chest clapped with laughter.

-.-

Their house was now repaired. They had a nice new couch and cushions THAT MATCHED! He loved Wanda so much but her fabric choices were awful, so silly~ He wrote on his arm how great his fashion AND interior design taste was. Now that the twins had powers, and he had to find some time to go to Gravity Falls to get some help, the easiest way to keep them from burning down the house again was absorbing their fire. It left HIM with an excess of energy all day though, but it was worth it. Wanda loved how the excessive energy made Seb always eager to do things~ She was quite thrilled because Seb could go for hours now, instead of getting tired and falling asleep after a few rounds.

Dr. Linda didn't find it too amusing. He was bouncing on the couch, laughing. "Never have magic children! They'll burn the curtains! But we got new ones! I chose them! Wanda likes them! But aahh! Baabbiiesss!" Seb fell from the couch, laughing and kicking his legs.

Linda sighed. "Did… you have an espresso shot before our session?" He was jittery. More so than usual. Seb rolled around on the ground. "Naaaah~ B-but I've been eating magic fire! IT's so tAsTY and-" He stumbled back up and attempted to crawl onto the couch, slumping over it. "-it's so much energy and… and I feel GREAT!"

"Have you been taking your pills?" Linda raised an eyebrow. Seb shook his head dramatically. "I RAN OUT of pills like, 2 months ago!" Linda's eyes widened in worry. "And the heck didn't you tell me!?"

"No,no,no! But I'm cured now! Really!" Seb smiled. "Hadn't had a panic attack in months! and see!" He showed her his wrists. "All are old scars! I write the nice things I do every day! That works amazing!"

Linda sighed. "Well, even if you're doing better, I'd like to know if you're off your meds." She would prefer if he kept taking them...but in the end, it was his decision, she was there to give him advice...Maybe she should talk to Wanda, she was good at convincing Seb to do things...Seb pouted and rolled over again. "Right, ah… sorry? I didn't think it was that important…" Linda raised an eyebrow. "You don't have to tell me everything, but this sort of thing would help a lot for me to know."

Seb pouted dramatically. "Ok~ But I'm fine! I'm not a demon! I'm not a monster, I know that now!" Linda was a little worried but she was going to have to trust Sebastian for now. If he seemed to have a relapse, she would insist that he go back on his anxiety meds.

"Alright, I'll trust you on this…" She was still talking to Wanda though, to know how Seb was doing at home. "YAAYY! YOU TRUST ME!" Seb squealed with a big smile. "Can I continue with my story?"

"Go ahead." Linda smiled a bit. They had time for her to tell him about the results of his tests. Meanwhile this whole 'passing on his demon powers' thing was a metaphor she still didn't quite understand yet.

"So, I never knew I could eat magic fire you know? I am basically immune to normal fire, but magic fire?! Baby magic fire! That's something new! It REALLY tastes super Sweet! And MY theory is that it tastes like the kids' formula! I'll try a bit of formula tonight~ But Wanda's going to get really confused! I won't tell her! You can't tell her either!"

"So...What...What do you think about your kids having your magic powers?" She was thinking it was related to his imaginary monster identity. He was fine now, but he maybe had a deep fear of his twins being...like him? That was the best she could think of at the moment, it did make sense that he wouldn't want his daughters to suffer like he did growing up. Sebastian shuddered. "Ugh, it's cool that they have my powers, but they burned down the living room! I wanna teach them to control their powers but they're too young to understand. I tried talking to them about all sorts of things but I don't think they get it!" Linda smiled.

Seb huffed, looking severely put out. "I don't know why though. 'Cause I understood what was happening around me perfectly as a baby. I just couldn't actually talk to tell people how I was feeling. Also, there's not much you can do as a baby. It's just lying there or sleeping or eating or pooping yourself, which was DISGUSTING." He shuddered again. "I'm gonna try and potty train the kids as SOON as I can. It can't feel nice for them to have to lie in their own shit until we clean them." Seb scowled and punched a pillow away. Ugh, NOW he could imagine the lizard's smug face during those years! How annoying damn it! That's why he learnt to do things faster than his brothers, being a baby was horrible. The only good thing was being held, but it didn't make up for it.

The blonde therapist blinked slowly. "Are...Are you telling me...you can remember being a baby…"

Seb sat cross legged and moved his legs up and down. "Eh~ Yes. I mean I just discovered that humans can't remember because human babies don't understand stuff, but it would explain why my Mindscape was formed when I turned 2, my soul was fucking old but my brain didn't have anything to make a mind with. To be fair, I can't remember being a baby in Flatland, but I thought it was because they're a completely different species." He shrugged.

Linda massaged her eyes. These stories hurt her head. "Alright, so the twins can be monsters too-"

"NO." Seb growled. "They-they have my powers because I was a monster! But they aren't! They're innocent!"

Linda nodded. "Alright, so having powers doesn't make someone a monster. So." She leaned back and observed Sebastian calmly. "What is it that made you a monster? If having fire powers doesn't make you a monster, then why do you think you are a monster?"

"Uugghh, Lindaaa!" Seb whined. "Didn't you hear anything I said beforeee? Because I am! Bill Cipher is a literal demon! A monster! Who tricks and possess people! And-And I...I will never get rid of my past…" He sighed. "But my daughters don't have a bad past, they had never been monsters…They, they are the most perfect babies...no scars, or a deformed yellow eye…" He smiled a bit. "They also have 5 fingers, but I wouldn't have minded if they had 6…"

Linda nodded slowly. "So...you told me you deserved being hit by Filbrick because you used to be a monster, right?" Seb nodded. "Yes, I deserved it." Linda internally groaned. "Alright...so...if your daughters had...had been born with the same deformities you were, that...they were somehow...reincarnations of other monsters...I guess that would mean they would deserve to be hit and punished too…?" The blonde asked with a raised eyebrow.

"N-NO! My daughters don't deserve that!" The man sniffed. "But IF they were demons before, like you, then it means they deserve to be hit and punished, to be bullied at school and hit by a father who has EVERY right to punish them…" Linda asked in a leading way, she needed Seb to understand and get over this hurdle himself.

"NOO!" Seb sobbed loudly. "NO! NO! THEY DON'T DESERVE IT! THEY'RE INNOCENT! THEY DIDN'T WANT TO BE DEMONS! I WON'T HIT THEM!" Seb's breathing was going faster.

Linda was unfazed and continue to speak calmly. Seb was still very convinced he was a monster and he deserved what happened to him. She wanted Seb to realize he DIDN'T deserve what happened to him, that it WASN'T his fault . "Then why did you deserve it? Why was it your fault?"

"Because… because…" Seb shuddered. It hurt to think about. But then he thought about what it would mean, if his daughters HAD been demons in their past lives, like, him. If they HAD been evil and...and…

"No! That… they…" Seb sobbed, tears streaming down his right cheek. "But Zully and Zoe are so small! And- and they're helpless! They can't even defend themselves and… even if they were demons they can't even do anything right now! They're just babies!"

Linda calmly regarded her patient. "You were a baby too." She pointed out. Seb whimpered as he held his head. "But… but…" Linda knew he was getting close. "So, if your daughters were demons, and you still think that they don't deserve to be hit, then, why do you think YOU deserved it back when you were also a helpless child?"

Sebastian wiped at his tears. "I…" He thought about it. "I… don't know…" He slumped on the couch. "I don't know...I…" Linda waited. Seb looked up at her, distressed, confused and unsure of himself. Linda held out her hand for him to take, Seb sometimes needed some physical touch to ground himself during his breakdowns. Seb took her hand and squeezed. "I…" He was just a baby. A toddler. A child. Why HAD he deserved it? He hadn't done anything bad as a kid, he had NEVER done anything to-to Filbrick to be hated so much...Seb shook his head. No. Even if he DID deserve to be punished for his crimes as Bill Cipher, Filbrick had NO RIGHT to treat a child that way. That…

Just imagining doing the things that Filbrick did to him, to his own children made Seb sick to his stomach. It was WRONG, he would NEVER ever hurt his daughters. It was… horrible. "...how could he do that to me?" Seb asked weakly. "I was so small. I couldn't fight back… how could he have done that to his own child?" Why did Filbrick treat him like that even when he did nothing wrong as a human? It's not like Filbrick knew he used to be a demon in his past life, right? So, why had he treated what he knew to be his own child in such a way?

"Filbrick hurt me…" Seb's fresh new tears fell. "And-And I had never...done something bad to him…" Linda nodded. "And...and if my daughters were...were demons...I'd-I'd never hit them… Because-because I love them…" He wiped his tears again.

Linda patted his hand. "Because you're a good father, Sebastian. And a good man." He looked up at her with a teary eye.

"It...It was his...his...I'd never hit them...but Filbrick did...and it was-it was the same situation…" Seb frowned a bit and let out a loud exhale. "It was not my fault he hit me...He hit me because he was bad, because he was a horrible man, who shouted at my mom since we were babies, who told Sixer mean things too...and HE...HE wasn't a demon...he didn't have...a REASON to be punished…"

Sebastian gripped his shirt tightly. He was shaking. "Filbrick was always mean. For no reason. He… he just hated me and Sixer because we were born different. Because we were freaks. He… he never loved us…" It finally made sense to him. Filbrick didn't punish Seb because Seb was a demon, he punished Seb because Filbrick was a fucking asshole. Seb slumped over, exhausted now.

"I-I knew Filbrick hated me...He didn't care that I was so scared of living in the attic, and-and he hurt me, and then he kicked me out when I was just a kid...But, but I always thought he-he had...every reason to hate me for who I was...but...but he hated my triplet too…" He looked up at Linda with puffy red eyes. "I didn't deserve it, did I?" Seb asked tearfully. Linda squeezed his hand again. "No. You didn't deserve all the abuse he put you through."

Linda hugged the crying man when he reached for a hug. "It was not your fault, Seb…" "N-No...it wasn't...even-even if I deserved it...I didn't deserve to have my father hit me and-and making me feel...totally useless…" Linda rubbed his back, poor Sebastian.

"But you still think you are…" Linda said and Seb nodded slowly. "It's ok, Seb...It'll be ok." She pulled away from the hug. "You'll be fine...Sebastian, your father hurt you, and he made you BELIEVE you deserve everything that happened to you! But it's not true. Nothing you went through was your fault. Everything he blamed you for, your hyperactivity, your lack of attention, your clumsiness, Seb, you have ADHD…I have your results." Linda told him. "Remember the exams we took? You do have this condition."

Seb rubbed his eye. "So...my brain...it-it's broken?" Like he always thought it was.

"It's not broken, Sebas." The blonde reassured him. Your brain works different, and we will practice ok? So you aren't as distracted or impulsive anymore. Your body is not broken, many people have ADHD, and it's mostly genetic, someone in your family has it, before you think it occurs out of the blue or-or an Axolotl put it on you to bother you."

Seb sniffled loudly. So his body wasn't really broken like he thought...If it was...genetic...it means it really wasn't the lizard's intention…

"Your meat sack is stupid, and yes, it does have a problem in its brain, and you will never, ever get cured! You are destined to be a stupid, mediocre, failure all your pathetic life! The shadow of Stanford Pines!"

Bill2...He always called him stupid...He-He still remembered...He always called him horrible names...He was the first one to tell him his brain was broken...He must have known about his condition...and used it against him! He was more of an ass than he remembered...

"Can...Can you cure me?" He asked Linda with a soft voice.

"No, Sebas...You can't get cured of that, but we will work on it, ok? You didn't get treated as a child, but now you learn to control it..." Linda gently massaged the man's hand.

"I can't control this...this thing...It's not my fault I-I was loud or...or impulsive...and no one...No one understood...They called me a spoiled brat...and misbehaved...and stupid...but I-I wasn't...I-I'm not stupid…"

"No, you aren't." Linda repeated. "None of that was your fault."

"It wasn't…" Seb repeated in a whisper. He slowly slid back to the couch and curled up there. "Um…How are you feeling?" Linda asked and the brunette smiled tiredly. "Fine, I feel fine...but-but my energy was all burnt out…" Before Linda could ask, Seb rolled his eye backwards and passed out, completely exhausted. The doctor sighed and dialed Wanda again.

Wanda came in a taxi to pick him up with their little twins (they had grown up so much since the last time Linda saw them!) and planned to drive his baby back. "He needs to stop wearing himself out like that." Wanda joked. Linda nodded a bit. "We're making progress, Wanda...He finally realized it was not his fault how his father hurt him."

"I've only seen that man like, once…" Wanda mumbled. "He had a pawnshop back in New Jersey…Gosh, I hate that man." She bounced Zoe who had woken up from her nap and was cranky and wanted to sleep again. Struggling, the two small women carried Seb into the car and sighed in relief.

"He really should stop passing out here." Wanda smiled before saying bye to Linda and driving off.

-.-

After his epiphany with Linda, Seb had been feeling much better with himself, even more than before. Aling with his daily supply of pure unadulterated baby fire to keep Wanda and the house safe, he had much more energy and confidence. He could do ANYTHING! He was going to EAT this world! He was great! He was the best! He. Was. Perfect!

This was not the reaction Dr. Linda expected, but Wanda loved how happy he seemed and the therapist had to admit this was his own way of coping with his problems. He was healing, everyone had their own way to do it. He continued to claim he hadn't had panic attacks in months and his arms were clean of any new injuries...Linda just hoped this didn't pile up and lead to Seb having a complete meltdown all at once.

Sebastian carried the babies with him as he worked, on his back and chest. They drooled all over his clothes and Seb was forced to… buy DAD clothes (ew) so his nice suits and dress shirts stayed clean. Linda had chuckled at his (justified) complaints. He yelped when Zoe pulled on his hair again. "Oww!" He gently pried her fingers off but she reached for his face instead, pinching his cheek by grabbing a whole handful of his skin. "You like daddy's face, huh? Is it because I'm so handsome~?" He teased. Zully babbled and smeared their drool onto his goatee. "Ewwwww! Zully!" Seb wailed.

These babies were going to kill him.

He cleaned himself with a bib and narrowed his eye at Zully, who was easier to glare at because they were on his chest. "...Do you think I'm handsome?" He asked his one-year old. Zully made a babbling noise and Seb smiled, patting their head softly. "Alright, as long as I'm the ONLY man you consider handsome it's ok~ You'll date boys? If you do, PLEASE don't be like your cousin Mabel and date anything with a Y-Chromosome. Please choose normal boys…" Zoe laughed on his back and smacked Seb's head.

He rubbed his head with a hand and went into the kitchen. He had to clean the house, he hadn't done that in a while and dust was EVERYWHERE. It wasn't good for the twins, they were so small. The doctor told them about how prematures (especially C-section ones) tended to have respiratory problems and weak immune systems, he informed them (looking pretty surprised) that the twins were really healthy considering the circumstances of their birth. Despite that, Seb wanted to keep the house as decently clean as possible for them to crawl around and take whatever they wanted to their mouths. "Ok, babies, we have stuff to clean up. Because I don't trust you crawling and trying to walk around while I'm working, you're stranded on my body like baby koalas until I'm done and the perimeter is CLEAR!" The two babies looked at their dad, unimpressed, as he pulled out the things he needed. Zully hiccuped and their arms engulfed in fire. They started sucking their hand until Seb noticed and absorbed the energy instead. Zully glared. Thief. That was theirs!

"Alright~ There you go, wouldn't want dust to get in your faces, would you?" He put little masks on the babies' faces, ignoring their wrinkled noses. "We're READYYY!" Seb swung his broom dramatically and pressed 'Play' in his phone, before loud rock music blasted from it. Zully jumped and awkwardly covered their little ears. Noooo the sound was louuuud! Zoe on the other hand, was squealing in excitement. Oh! What was this!? She LOVED it!

Zoe laughed loudly as she squealed, hitting her daddy's head. The loud music sounded REALLY funny! And daddy's funny faces made it even better! Zully pursed their lips and grimaced. Stop it~ "Ah!" They whined but realized that strange noise wasn't going to stop and sighed, resigned. Dad wasn't going to stop until he finished cleaning, swinging them around the house.

"Are you HAppEH are you satisfied? How long can you stand the heat?!" Zully's sulking decreased just a bit when Seb waved a flame in front of them for dramatic effect. "Out of the doorway the bullets rip! To the sound of the beat YEAH! DUN, DUN, DUN! Another one CLEANS the dust!" Seb slid to the side dramatically. He made the broom move on its own with his mind as he cleaned the windows and decorations. "Hey, I'm gonna get you, too! Another one bites the dust!"

Zoe was in some sort of trance with the music, in bliss and in awe at the magnificent sounds, the guitar and the easier to recognize beat. With her green and brown eyes widened and dilated, the little girl started hitting her dad's neck along with the beat. "Dah! Dah! Dah! Ah-bahbah bah da dah!"

"Oooohhh!" Seb looked up at his daughter with a big grin. "You like daddy's favorite baaanndddd? Yes? You like it? YOU LOVE IT DON'T YOU?!" The little blonde baby giggled. "Dada!"

Zully sighed, unsure why their daddy and sister were so happy about those strange sounds. It was loud and didn't make any sense to them.

Seb was really happy as he finished his chores, which was weird, no one was so happy as they vacuumed and cleaned. A few more songs passed, both from when he was young as well as new tunes he learned recently, and before he knew it, everything was done and sparkling! (He did use magic, but no one needed to know). Wanda was going to love this! He put everything away before starting his nice list for today. "I always leave everything clean!" He wrote on his arm.

He put the kids down so they could crawl around the clean apartment. As he pulled out his laptop and tablet to begin sketching, the music changed to one of the children's songs that Wanda's mother had snuck onto his playlist.

"If you're happy and you know it, CLAP YOUR HANDS!"

Sebastian was happy. He was clapped wildly, laughing maniacally as he did so. The children didn't clap, being very confused about what was exciting daddy so much. Still, daddy seemed happy, and that made them happy. Sebastian finished his work and checked the time. The children were also tugging on his pant legs, demanding food. "Oh, I guess it's time for lunch!" He bent over to pick up his babies. "Who wants gross food paste? You do~ yoooou doooo~" He sang as he carried them to the kitchen to put them in their high chairs.

As per usual, more food ended up on the table and splattered on clothing than in their mouths. The kids were slowly starting to eat food instead of just baby formula. Zully liked this new funny stuff, it was sticky and they could rub it over daddy's face. Zoe hated it. She wanted her bottle back. It was fun to suck on it. And bite it! But this new goopy stuff wasn't fun to chew on. She could hardly even call this chewing!

So she threw it at daddy to show her displeasure. "Yucky!"

Seb scowled and wiped his face. Uggghhhh! "Well, I didn't want to do this, kid, but you've forced my hand!" The twins eyes widened when they felt, or rather couldn't feel, their legs and arms. "Ah gah gah aah!" Zoe shrieked. Seb nodded solemnly. "It's the only way to feed you…" He mixed a bit of the milk with their food, making it even more gross looking, but the twins seemed to prefer that. Besides, they couldn't move and could only eat now! HAHAHA!

They already had a routine. After eating they got a bath and a clean diaper, played for a bit before taking a nap. The twins loved to sleep. Sleeping was great when Daddy carried them. He'd hold them tight...rock them just enough, which soothed them, and hum or sing softly a song.

As the brunet worked on feeding the girls, his phone buzzed and he floated it closer to his face. (He shouldn't forget to wear his contacts anymore. He was almost as blind as his brothers. He couldn't see well past a few meters.) It was a message from Wanda! Eehh! And it said!...That she wasn't coming home until late in the night! Yay-wait what? 'Dont worry about me, eat lunch seb, love you!'

Oh...But he...he wanted to eat lunch with her...

Did he do something wrong…? Why didn't she want to be with him? What if she-No. He slowly pulled away his hand from his wrist before e could do anything and took a deep breath. It-it was fine. She was busy because of work. He knew that she would be. She was always working so hard to earn money for them.

Even if he was a little lonely at the thought. No. It was fine. HE was fine. He was okay with this. And he already got to spend all his nights with her. Seb knew how much Wanda loved her job. He wasn't going to be selfish and hold her back from that. Besides, he would call her later on facechat and show her how the twins were doing.

Seb was cleaning the twins' mess when his phone rang. "Yellow~!" He chirped, hoping it was Wanda.

It wasn't Wanda, it was Stan. "Hey Seb, eh… I dunno if you're busy or not, but ah, do you have time to talk for a bit?"

"Sure. I've got all the time in the world Fez." Sebastian wiped Zully's mouth with one hand while tickling Zoe with the other. The blonde baby giggled and pulled at Seb's finger. Stan cooed at the sounds of the babies. "Well, ah, you remember high school?"

Seb's shoulders dropped for a second before he shook off the melancholy and grinned. "Yeah? What about it?"

"Well they're having a class reunion and… ah… we got invited." Stan said. "One of our classmates is hosting it, they contacted me and asked if we were going to come."

Seb stayed silent for a second before saying. "You've been back for a year and people from high school are already licking your feet again~ I bet they'd want two famous stars there~ It's cool you two got invited, it's nice to be updated on what's going on with you two." He gave Zoe another little spoonful of mashed sweet potatoes and rice. "Hey, how's Diego by the way?! He must be so big now! And Dillon is ok with him now?"

Stan laughed sheepishly. "Haha, yeah, they're fine...and actually yes, Dillon is much-hey! you're changing the topic." The man huffed. "Seb, we were all invited."

"No."

"N...o?"

"You know I wasn't!" Seb laughed humorlessly. "You probably asked them if I could come...I didn't even finish school with them…" "Uh-uh-but-" "I've been here for 14 years, Fez, and I've never gotten anything before from any of them. No calls, no contact, no invitations. I don't believe you, they haven't invited me...But-but it's ok! I-I have Wanda and my daughters and they need me to stay and they care about me-" Zully was suckling his finger, to prove it. "-so...enjoy your meeting…"

"...Seb…" Stan said sadly. "Look, you can still come, show people how great you're doing. Wouldn't that be fun?" Seb sighed. "No. I'm sorry Fez, I just don't want to meet with them. They all sucked. That's all it was."

"...Please?" "Oh my circles did you just say Please?" Seb laughed, completely ignoring the topic. He didn't want to go and he wasn't going.

"Sebastian…" Stan sighed tiredly. "Look...the reunion is still a while away, you have time to think about it ok? If-If I convince Poindexter?" Stan suggested.

"No. I don't want to go!" Seb screamed into the phone. Zoe and Zully startled, jumping and looking at their dad with teary eyes. "See-See ya later, Stanley…" The youngest triplet hung up and massaged his eye. He hated them, they hated him, everyone mocked him, everyone knew he was a freak, monster, that's why he was never invited before, that's why he would never be invited, he was horrible, no one liked him, they would have preferred if he was DEAD! He was useless, he was worthless, he didn't serve for anything!

"Papa, n-no!" Zoe called out, scared, trying to reach daddy's hand. She knew what 'No' meant by this point, people said that to her often enough. Seb opened his eye when his babies' sobs brought him back momentarily. He was panting, just on the verge of a panic attack. "I-I…"

He picked up his daughters and hugged them as they cried. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I don't need my pills, I won't do this again, I promise…"

Seb looked at his wrists and rubbed them, trying to remember the nice things he wrote there. Linda said he didn't deserve the pain he went through! He didn't do anything wrong in this life! He had thousands of good things! He could do things right! He was perfect! They didn't deserve HIM because he was perfect and he could do anything!

But he was still crying and he couldn't stop. Despite how hard he was trying to believe it, to cover up his fear and sanity, deep in his heart he knew he wasn't quite right yet…

His heart was racing and he just held onto his children and tried very hard to calm down, for their sake. He wished Wanda was here. He needed someone with him. His babies were lovely and he was glad they were here but it just wasn't the same.

He stayed with the twins all day, just the 3 of them. They missed their mommy too, she always left but always came back. Why wasn't she coming back?

Seb decided to take the kids to the park after their nap. He needed air, they needed air. He didn't take them frequently, everything was dirty and the twins took everything to their mouths, but after almost breaking down, he guessed he needed to relax a little bit, same for the babies, after seeing him break down. And all because stupid Stanley called to tell him about stupid school and stupid class reunions!

He put a blanket on the ground and sat the babies there. "We'll...protect your sensitive baby skin from the sun~ because the earth is warming up more than necessary and there's more radiation and I wouldn't want you getting a skin condition, right~?" He cooed as he soaked the babies with sunscreen and gave them little sunglasses. "You two look so faancy~"

Zoe, annoyed, threw away hers and the twins crawled towards their bag and slowly stood up to get some of their toys out. Zully eagery hit their toy against the blanket as Zoe bit her plastic toy. She got bored quickly though and thought it would be an excellent idea to throw it at her crib companion.

Seb gasped in shock when Zully fell backwards, thrown back by a flying plastic cube to the head, and they started wailing loudly. Zoe tilted her head to the side and walked over to retrieve her cube. "ZOE WHAT THE FUCK?!" Seb ran over to Zully who was still sobbing. "NO! BAD! DON'T HURT YOUR SISTER, DAMN IT!"

Zully curled up against Daddy's chest, crying and extremely distressed at Zoe for hitting them, as their arms flickered with flames. "Sshh, sshh, it's ok princess~, it's ok...She won't hurt you again, ok?" Seb rocked his oldest kid. Ugh! Zoe was going to be grounded for this! Um! Trapped in her crib for-for 2 hours!

Zoe had started to wander off, gasping in awe at the pretty flowers and pulling them up to show daddy and mommy. Well, mommy wasn't here so she'll show mommy when she comes back. Zoe also ate a few of the flowers, wondering what they tasted like. Bleh. She spat out the petals. They didn't taste good. She looked back at daddy to see he was still hugging Zully. Zoe pouted. She wanted a hug too!

She ran back towards him, tripping and falling face- first to the grass a few times. Zoe forced herself to sit up and spat grass, wrinkling her nose. "Papa!" She called, glaring at the green yucky grass. Seb looked up at Zoe and with a sigh, he walked over to pick her up. "Now what? Will you apologize to your twin sister? You hurt her, we don't hurt family, kid." Seb crouched next to the younger baby, sitting Zully on his leg.

Zoe blinked before rubbing her aching cheek, she hit herself with a branch, and raised her arms. "Hu!" She wanted a hug, that fall was an ouchie, but she didn't cry like Zully. Zully cried over everything! Seb sighed and picked Zoe up, putting her on his other leg. "Zoe, I'm being serious here. You don't hurt your sister. Now apologize."

Zoe had no idea what daddy was saying but she hugged him, grinning as she pulled on his shirt. Daddy was warm~ Zully was sniffling quietly. Zoe's eyes landed on the huge structure a few meters away from them and wiggled like a blonde worm to go there. "Ah! AH!" She pointed to the structure, which Seb recognized as a kid playground. "No, first apologize to your twin."

He grabbed Zoe's hand, much to the baby's confusion, and he made her pat Zully's forehead, where a small bruise was forming. "You see? You hurt her, Zoe, don't hurt her again." Seb explained, still assuming his daughters understood what the hell he was saying.

After the twins 'apologized' Seb finally took them to the baby swings. Zully seemed pretty excited to play, their sadness forgotten. The brunet sat his babies in the swings and gently pushed them, smiling widely at their happy squeals. Unknown to him, a few moms and nannies with their toddlers were watching him with dorky smiles. Cute dad and oh~ no ring~

They looked him up and down. Handsome, no ring, two adorable baby girls and he was clearly a doting, loving father…

Some of the single women were grinning like sharks that had smelled blood.

Sweet, innocent Sebastian had no idea what was about to happen, he was too busy pushing his babies on the swings.

One of the bravest of the group, a young woman in her late twenties, early thirties, walked up with her own kid, who looked like he'd preferred playing instead of used as a tool, but he was used to it. His mom did this every time she saw a man she liked. "Oh, hi! I've never seen you around here~ Are you new?" The woman asked sweetly. Seb turned to look at her without stopping his push at the twins' swings. "Eh~ Not really, I've been living here for two years now but I've only just started taking the twins to the park, they just turned one..." Seb didn't know this woman, he had to be careful with the information he gave strangers.

"Ohh~ I'm sure your beautiful baby girls would be best friends with my little Jimmy when they grow up! He's two!" The woman cooed at Zully, who was closest and sat Jimmy in the nearest baby swing. "They're so pretty!" Jimmy reached to grab Zully's forehead, curious about their light bruise, and Seb tensed up when the stranger hugged him. "Look at them~! GASP! They get along super well! My baby is a ladies' man! They can be little boyfriends and girlfriends!" The woman squealed.

Seb laughed awkwardly, with a very dramatic grimace and escaped from the hug. "Hahaha...that's creepy, don't say that…" Zully didn't like the strange boy touching them either, leaning away from his grasping hand and copying their dad's grimace. Zoe thought it was hilarious, kicking her feet and reaching to pull on Zully's swing ropes. "Ah! Nah!" She wanted to see the new kid too!

"Why don't you come over to the other moms and nannies over there?" She could hear the relieved and very grateful whispers from her mom companions. "We've seen you alone over here and we thought you might feel lonely~" The woman pursed her lips. "We even have healthy snacks for the kids and some snacks for us~"

"Um...I-I think it would be fine?" Seb shrugged a bit, still feeling awkward. Maybe he would feel better if there was another dad but nope, all were moms. Wanda should be here! But WORK! UGH! He got the twins out of the swing set and picked up his discarded bag and blanket to drop it closer to the group of giggling women. "Hi~" "Hello!" "What beautiful babies!" "What's your name, cutie?"

"Um...She's Zoe and-and she's Zully." Seb presented his daughters with a proud smile. "Name's Sebastian." He was a little nervous, surrounded by strangers like this. They all converged around him. He was starting to feel boxed in. Breathe, you have lungs for something, use them.

Zoe shook her arms widely, staring at all the other babies. Woah! They were small like her and Zully! She'd never seen another baby! (Diego was still carried, too young to play with the twins) What was she supposed to do? She stood up, pushing herself up with her hands and walked over to a kid, Zully toddling after her.

BAM! Zoe pushed another girl, making her fall on her diapered butt. Zully gasped before giggling. When she did it to them it wasn't fun, but it was fun when it was someone else!

"Zoe no! What did I say about hitting!" Seb gasped as he quickly grabbed her. "I'm so sorry! She plays rough!" He pulled Zoe (who was whining because she wanted to push more people) into his lap and decided to just hold onto her, less chance of her hurting the other kids. Zully was much better behaved, quietly sitting near one of the other kids and waving at them. The other women cooed at the children. "Oh, it's alright, they're just playing."

The baby who fell over was blinking in confusion, but she wasn't hurt. Zully grabbed some of their toys and brought them closer. Some other kids squealed and grabbed them, but Zully didn't get too upset. As long as they didn't grab the one they were playing with…

Zoe sobbed at her dad, pulling his sleeve. "Pwa!" She pointed at the kids. Seb rubbed her curly blonde hair (He loved it because it had grown and he could comb their hair and give them tiny adorable hairclips~). "Nope. You lost your rights. Trapped."

"Oh~ You're clearly an EXCELLENT daddy to them~" A woman poked his arm. Seb looked down at his poked arm and frowned, wiping it. "Uh...I try to be good, I don't want them to be like me growing up…"

"Oh? I'm sure you weren't that bad as a kid?" One woman asked. Seb laughed, only a little bitterly. "Eh… I was a really hyperactive child, didn't know my own strength either." He pinched Zoe's nose, making her gasp for air. She whined. Daddy!

"I bet you were the prettiest baby." Another woman cooed. "Judging by your beautiful daughters!" "And how handsome you are now~"

Seb's face was red and he was trying to keep his breathing steady. This was getting so overwhelming, he only liked when his family complimented him, and it still made him blush, it made him feel weird when others did it. He was still working about it with Linda.

"I-I really wasn't...I-I bet my triplets were more….were prettier?" He stuttered. The women all gasped. "You have triplets?" They all grinned at each other. "Are… they single?" One asked. Seb shook his head, still unsure what was happening now. "Stan's going to get married soon-" "Aaaawwww!" "-but… Ford is single…" "Ooohh~"

Zoe wiggled her way out of Sebastian's arms and she crawled towards the kids playing with Zully. "Uh-ee!" She called her sibling. Zully looked at her and smiled, offering a toy. "Bah?" The twins didn't really have a secret language between them, but they could understand each other pretty well. Sometimes they just knew what each other were thinking. Zoe grabbed the toy and started biting it.

Zully smiled widely, glad to make their sister happy, and looked up. Their brown eyes widened and Zully cried, raising their arms excitedly. "MAMA!" Everyone turned around, women and Seb, to see an awkward looking woman dressed up in a smart looking suit jacket. "Hey! There you are! I've been calling you and you didn't pick up!" Wanda told Seb, narrowing her eyes a little bit at the sight of the shocked women around him.

Seb was SO relieved to see her. "You came home earlier!" He stopped when she raised an eyebrow. "Oh, uh well… I probably didn't notice…" He searched around his bag and found his phone buried underneath some of the twin's toys. There were some missed calls from Wanda. "Sorry Wands. I was just taking the kids outside today, you said you weren't coming home until later tonight and the kids need more sunlight." He stood up and walked over to her, making the other women frown even more when he kissed her lips.

"Oh, um..." Seb looked at the mothers. "They're some moms I met? The twins made some friends and they're playing." Wanda scowled just slightly, pulling Seb closer to her. Hmphh! The people she was supposed to meet with cancelled the meeting so she decided to come home early...Only to find it empty and then Seb surrounded by like 10 women… She knew Seb would never even think of looking at other women, but those harpies were trying to prey on her man.

"Mama!" Zully and Zoe toddled over to Wanda, raising their little arms to be picked up. Wanda cooed and complied. "I missed you too! Yes~ Were you having fun~?" Zoe giggled. "Ah bah bah!" She waved her hand down at the other babies. They were small and easy to push over! Much cooler to hit too! Even more than her older cousin Dipper! His forehead was nice to hit because it had a drawing on it.

Zoe's hands started heating up and Wanda quickly passed her over to Seb. "Code blue." She said calmly. Seb gasped dramatically and started nibbling on Zoe's fist, subtly absorbing the fire before it even appeared. "Nom! Nom! I'll eaatt you!" He ran away with her, meters away from the group of kids and mothers.

"You two aren't married, are you?" A mom asked Wanda once Seb was gone. Wanda grinned at the other women. "Not yet, we've both been too busy." She said sweetly. Wanda not-quite glared at them. They slowly backed off. Yeah. He's mine. Wanda couldn't help but realize that this WAS an issue. Since they weren't married, her poor innocent Seb would be under threat by bloodthirsty women. And she couldn't allow that to happen. She sighed dramatically. She'll need to protect him again, just like she did when they were teens. Zully had leaned against her chest and was suckling their finger. They loved mommy so much, all her hugs must be for them! Not daddy! Maybe Zoe, if they felt like sharing.

Wanda packed up their belongings, bid the other women a farewell, and walked over to catch up with Seb. She found him noming Zoe's fists, who continued creating fire just to see Seb eat it. "Hey, do the kids need more sun or should we head home?" She asked. Seb smacked his lips. "Well, I think they're good for now!" Wanda laughed and booped Zoe's nose. "Bad girl, no fire."

Seb skipped all the way home, singing loudly and jumping. Wanda stroked her chin. They should find a way to keep the babies' powers at bay or all this energy would make Sebastian explode one day.

More than that…

Wanda bit her lip. Marriage. She… she DID want to ask him, but a part of her was a little afraid of doing so. She loved Seb. She knew he loved her too. But marriage was… it was a big step. And expensive, if they wanted a big ceremony and everything. But she didn't want to just have it be a legal marriage without any ceremony… but maybe that was just her own selfishness speaking.

She shook her head. She had to think about it, think about responsibilities that came from being married and what it all meant. She had to think of the twins as well, and how she'd even start suggesting it to Sebastian...Maybe he needed to have...more peace of mind? Maybe she should ask Linda? He could take it pretty bad and she didn't want to pressure him into doing something he wasn't ready for. There was A LOT to think about...She couldn't help but smile and chuckle though. She bet Mabel would be more than excited about it if they did get married.

Wanda startled, placing a hand on her chest when she heard a loud thud next to her. She looked at Seb on the floor, laughing. "What the heck happened?!" She could actually tell though. There was a small climbable wall, Seb had his shoes untied…

"I wanted to walk over the wall but fell...haha-hahahahahahahaha!" Seb rolled around on the ground as Wanda rubbed her forehead, stressed. The babies squealed and clapped at their silly dad.

She seriously wanted to marry this dumb idiot…

-.-

Seb huffed as he left Linda's office. She was wrong. She didn't know what she was saying. He was CURED. He didn't need the pills anymore! He LOVED himself, he was the GREATEST human being in existence! He didn't have panic attacks anymore, he didn't hurt himself, he still nibbled on his finger when he was distracted or working, but he didn't make them bleed anymore.

"Forgiving yourself for what happened is NOT that easy, Seb." Linda had said with her soft, doctor voice, but she was wrong! Because he was fine! He knew it wasn't his fault that everyone hit him when he was a child. He was a monster and a freak and didn't deserve the nice family he had, yes, but it didn't mean he-he was a bad human! He was good now, he worked hard to be good and ignore Bill2 during all his life. Now he was gone. He would never bother Seb again and whisper horrible things in his ear. He was fine. He didn't...he didn't hate himself anymore, because he felt GOOD now, Linda said he was AMAZING, he had the best babies and the best girlfriend and he was amazing at his work and he had the best family and he was very handsome and he could do ANYTHING!

(Seb carefully ignored the thought of how his stupid brain didn't work right and he forgot things all the time and how he apparently had a condition that made him even more distracted and dumb than normal.)

The weather was warming up. Summer would be here soon and with it, a family trip to Gravity Falls. Seb couldn't wait to return. It had been his home for so many years. His home was with Wanda and the twins now, but he still missed that weird little town. The day he agreed to visit Ford's lab with the twins before summer for the twin's check ups finally arrived. Seb found himself saying bye to Wanda with the twins sleeping on his back and chest. She couldn't come with them, she was busy with work and had something important to attend. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." Wanda laughed. "But who will make you eat?" Seb pouted. "I'll tell your mom to bother you." "More?" The woman sighed.

The twins received a kiss from their mommy and Seb got on the plane. He wished he could teleport, that would make things so much easier. Zoe and Zully squirmed the entire flight but didn't cry, lucky him. The flight attendant gave them two lollipops and the twins busied themselves with the treats for the rest of the flight. They eventually reached town, and to the brunet's surprise, Ford was actually waiting for them in the house, and not hidden in his lab.

"Hey Sixer! I brought your baby patients!" Seb cheered loudly, making Ford jump. "W-what? Oh Sebastian! Oh! You're here!" The scientist looked somewhat frazzled, his hair was a mess and his eyes kept darting around. Seb, who had been let into the house by Soos, frowned at his oldest brother. "Are you okay, Sixer?"

"Y-yes. I just, haven't slept very well recently…" Ford rubbed at his eyes under his glasses. He'd been growing more worried as he found himself up late at night trying to figure out why Sebastian's children had his powers. If Sebastian got his powers from being Bill Cipher in his past life, it didn't… couldn't make sense for it to be heritable? Right? Unless there was something more happening here…

The theory that kept him up at night was the idea of 'If Sebastian was a Bill Cipher who reincarnated as a human, what's to stop the Bill Cipher we defeated from doing the same?'

The idea that his baby nieces might secretly be that demon who had tortured him for so many years… that perhaps ONE of them was secretly Bill… or both?! Could that happen? It left Ford feeling faint, horrified and a little sick. He needed to check, he… he needed to make sure they weren't!

And if they were… if his nieces were actually Bill Cipher…

Ford, in his (sometimes dark) thoughts late in the night, had wondered if perhaps it would be better to… to what? Kill them? No. That… that wasn't right. He couldn't do that. Sebastian loved his children. But.. if they WERE Bill Cipher, or worse, another demon like him or even more insane!, it would be too dangerous to let them…

Ford shook his head. No, that wasn't important right now. His brother was visiting and he was going to run some tests to see what was giving these children their powers.

(Ford tried very hard not to think about what he would do, be forced to do, if the babies were really Bill Cipher…)

Seb smiled at his older brother, unaware of his paranoid thoughts. He freed the twins to let them hug Soos, who was holding himself back from jumping (in glee at the sight of the babies) so he could cuddle the girls. "Aww doods! I missed you both! Do you remember me? It's me! Uncle Soos!" They didn't, but Zoe grabbed his fat cheeks with a happy squeal and pulled. She liked this weird looking gopher!

"Oh, well, maybe you should try some kind of sleeping pill? Maybe you're just overworking your brain, now it can't shut down and keeps thinking and thinking and doesn't let you relax?" Seb suggested as he patted his brother's shoulder. Ford managed a tired smile. "F said something similar, but with more of his odd southern curses." Seb laughed.

The scientist rubbed his eyes. "I'll worry about it later, but first, let's check your-uh, little children." Seb raised an eyebrow. "No, first we need to eat, the twins have a schedule and we've broken it by spending HOURS in a flying metal trap. I can make lunch! Hey Question Mark! Missed my cooking?!" Soos' happy shout was heard, mixed with pained cries at Zoe biting his very chewable cheeks. "AHH! IT'S SHARP! CUTE, BUT SHARP!" The former handyman wailed.

Ford bit his lip. "Can't we do this first?" "Nooo! The twins need to eat or they'll eat Soos!" Seb laughed. "And I bet you haven't eaten either! It will do us good!" Seb poked Ford's cheek before marching to his old kitchen. Oh, memories~ "Watch the twins for me, you can see them but not examine them without me!" he called back.

Ford looked down at the babies helplessly. Soos was gently trying to pry Zoe's mouth off him. "Ow. Heh heh, you've got some sharp teeth little lady. Ow!" Soos winced through his chuckles. Zully was waddling over to the couch, pulling at the pillows. "Ah… Dr. Pines? Help?" Soos asked helplessly from his position, kneeling over on the ground. Ford shook himself. Right. "Yes, hold still while I dislodge her from you…" He was able to carefully pull on Zoe until she let go, Soos sighed in relief. Ford blinked at the blonde child as he held her up, arms stretched and as far away from his face as possible. She giggled, a bit of blood was trailing out of her mouth.

"Oh my goodness! Do you need medical assistance?" Ford stared at the injury on Soos's cheek. The round man laughed it off. "Naw, I've actually gotten worse bites from the squirrels that attack my FCLORP group."

"Ah, um, you should...still wash that thing off, though, it could get infected..." Ford awkwardly carried Zoe to the bathroom because despite how horrible it looked and how much it creeped him out, Zoe had Soos' blood in her mouth. "Ok...um, clean it? How do you clean yourself?" The clueless man asked. He let the water run and waited for Zoe to do something. She was sitting on the edge of the sink, a little confused.

Zoe stared at the man intensely, heterochromatic eyes wide. He...looked like Daddy, but he definitely wasn't daddy. Her eyes narrowed annoyed. "No Daddy!" What was his name again? "Is-sher!" Yeah, that's what daddy called the man.

"I...sher?" Ford asked softly. Zoe nodded. "Isher!" She looked at the water and splashed Isher with water while laughing loudly. Ford frowned in annoyance. "Hey! Zoe, no!" He scolded loudly but the little girl gasped and started screaming in distress (she didn't like to be shouted at!) and he froze. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He just didn't know how to deal with a baby.

He took her back to the living room, almost getting bitten in the process, and practically dropped her on the couch. Zoe calmed down when she saw her crib companion playing with the chewable gopher, it was safe now. Zully was here. And Isher wouldn't shout at her again.

Ford sat far (far!) away from the kids and pulled out his journal to write a bit about their interactions. "Sebastian, when were they born?" He called out to his brother in the kitchen. "April 24th, 2013!" Seb called with a proud, sweet voice. Alright, so they were a year and 2 months old. He marked that down. But, Wanda should have conceived them sometime in the fall… did the timing mean anything?

Wanda did say the doctors told her her uterus had been burnt… What was different from her pregnancy to their mom's?! Sebastian didn't burn her. He called out again. "Do they have...birthmarks?" Seb hummed. "Birthmarks as in Dipper kind or my kind?" "Yours!" "Nopey! Nothing, Zoe just has a darker splotch on her arm."

Ford crawled over to the kids to examine that birthmark. He lifted the girl's arm with his pencil, not wanting to risk getting bitten. It was just a splotch, not even anything resembling a distinctive shape. Certainly not a triangle. Still, this didn't really reassure him. Zully played like what he would call an average baby, they made baby sounds, wobbled when walking and had a big smile. Zoe on the other hand was starting to worry him...

He watched her cackle as she threw her toys around. She even bit onto the neck of one of the dolls and shook her head around, growling.

"Holy shit…" Ford stared at his niece, terrified. Zoe's hand suddenly engulfed in flames and she burnt her toy, laughing when she threw it against the wall. "S-S-Seb! Sebastian!" Ford screamed, the blue fire reflecting in his glasses.

Seb poked his head into the room and looked at the babies. "Shoot!" Zoe noticed him and raised her arms. "Dada!" She screamed in excitement before falling backwards, almost hitting her head. "Ooops~ Baby you have to be more careful!" He picked her up and floated up the flaming toy before Ford's house caught fire (like his and Wanda's did). "Sorry about that, their powers still get out of control, haha, that's why we're here, don't worry, they can't really hurt you." Seb put the toy in water, he wasn't going to eat that fire, and called everyone to eat. Abuelita had seen him a bit ago and decided to join him in the cooking.

"I made hamburgers! So you can't deny my food!" Seb scolded his brother with a grin. Ford was still trying to get his breathing back under control. He observed Zoe more closely during lunch. The babies got some chicken, barely seasoned, rice and some weird looking puree which both of them seemed to like. Ford was trembling a little, the memory of that blue fire running through his mind again and again. What would he have done if Seb wasn't there to put it out? Would his living room burn down? Could that blue fire even be put out with an extinguisher? Dumping the toy in water seemed to help, but still! That fire was blue! It was magical! What if it wouldn't have gone out without Seb's help?

Bill's certainly wouldn't have. Ford hid a shudder. He'd had more experience with Bill's burning flames than he would like to admit. That demon visited him every few nights back behind the portal, as soon as he left the safety of William's side.

After lunch, Zoe and Zully started yawning, and Seb suggested that if he needed to draw blood or whatever, to do it now. "They comply more when tired." Ford chuckled a little. "Well, I doubt anyone would enjoy complying to having their blood taken."

They went to Ford's lab, he had gotten prepared for this weeks ago, and carefully swabbed the insides of their mouths (barely escaping before Zoe bit him) as well as took some blood samples (might as well cover his bases). The children complained after it and Seb rocked them in his arms. Ford shook his head slowly. Seb loved his kids so much...Would he still do so if they were...

"Alright...this is to study yo-your genetic composition, no one will see the samples, just me." There was no way he was asking for help from the other doctors. "No-Now, the weirdness scan…" As he prepared his machine, Seb rocked and burped his sleepy kids. "We won't see each other for our birthday, right?" Seb asked sadly. Stan was going to be busy this summer. Ford had many things to do with setting up the center… and Shermie was taking Mabel and Dipper with him and Abigail on a family vacation.

"I-I don't know…" Ford fumbled a little with the buttons on his machine.

"We can still see each other at the end of the summer, to celebrate Dillon and the twins' birthday, and Diego's! He will be turning 1 in September don't forget!" Seb exclaimed happily. It was fine if he could see everyone at LEAST once this summer.

"I'll keep it in mind…" Ford finally got everything ready. He connected the little wires to the babies' temples for a better reading. Then did the same for Sebastian when he sat down next to his sleeping babies. As the machine made weird science stuff Seb didn't understand, his brother looked down at him. "So...Sebastian...what-what would you...what would you do or-or think...if the kids used to be...demons?"

Seb smiled. Oh, easy question. He already had it with Linda. "It wouldn't matter, they're my daughters, and they don't deserve to be punished for something they did in another life."

"Alright, but it actually matters quite a lot!" Ford laughed humorlessly, gritting his teeth. "If you hadn't been a demon, you wouldn't have gotten a demon eye, or powers. Which you somehow passed down! I mean there must be a reason you still aren't entirely human…"

"...I-I AM human, Ford…"

"Humans don't have powers or transform into 6 armed monsters with disconnected torsos." The older triplet said, sounding just slightly accusatory.

"...Uh-uh…" Seb stuttered, holding Zully's hand for support. "It's magic…"

"It's weirdness, Sebastian." Ford shook his head. Magic and Weirdness wasn't the same. "I'm not saying you're bad or anything, just that, maybe your past is not separate from you by a clear line…"

There was a moment of silence before Seb whispered. "I'm not Filbrick...I'm not going to hurt them…" Ford waved his hands. "I-I never said-" He bit his lip. Well, he didn't say it, but that was what he had been thinking… did that… make him like Filbrick? Ew, no, never. He-He might have thought about it...but only for a second! He-He actually didn't want to hurt his nieces! He didn't want anything bad happening to them!

That's why he was really hoping they-they weren't demons…

Ford trembled as he ran the scanner. The readouts were… odd. "You're human… but you're also… Weirdness…" He wasn't sure what that meant. How could Sebastian have such powers, and pass on such powers, when his DNA was 100% human? But there it was, the reading stated quite plainly that he was human. He just happened to be emitting Weirdness energy.

The readings of the twins were similar, but not the same, just like the quick basic scan he did when they were born. They had the same powers but they didn't have the same weirdness waves...WHY? He wanted to map Seb's DNA already. "What was your deal with the Axolotl again? You asked to be human?"

"Why would I EVER ask to be such a dumb creature?" Seb laughed. "I wanted to be brought back, it had to be in a different form, different time...MAYBE I should have been more specific...but, heh, I had just died for the first time, I wasn't thinking straight...haha, get it? Straight~" Ford didn't get it but let him talk. "And then...when he brought me back that summer he said he would let me keep my powers…" Seb shrugged. "Which at first I thought gone, I only got them back when I came to Gravity Falls where the seal was broken, so maybe...the twins have powers...because they don't have seals?" Seb suggested.

Ford thought about it. It...It made some kind of sense...If they didn't have magic seals...then their powers were free...and if they don't have seals...it means they don't have zodiacs which means they weren't Bill! He managed a small smile. That reassured him at least a little bit… Putting the still kind of confusing readings aside, the older triplet gently pulled off the soft plugs on the twins' heads, he didn't want to wake them up, but was more harsh with his triplet, just to bother him, like good ol' siblings always do. "OW!" Seb glared and his brother sent him a smug grin. "Don't scream, you are going to wake up my nieces~"

"You little-" Seb grumbled but let it pass. He would get revenge at some point, he must be patient~

They moved to another area of the center so Ford could study the three samples of blood he had. It was going to take a while, but Seb wasn't allowed to bring food into the room so his tablet and sleeping kids would be enough. "Ok, what are you going to do now?"

"Your DNA is human, but if you have powers, and you passed them down, I'm going by the theory you must have them as part of your DNA, so that's why you are 'human' but still have powers that can be passed down." Because if Zoe and Zully didn't get powers because of that...Then how? His other theories were much darker and he'd prefer NOT to think about them right now. Ford shook his head. "But that doesn't make any sense. You have the same DNA as me, as Stan. Well, aside from a few mutations causing our extra fingers…" Ford looked down at his hands. "And Zoe has different colored eyes, so, mutations are a thing that seem to happen…"

"Mutations are literally the creations of new alleles, so I'm guessing one or a few of your chromosomes have different alleles compared to us that came from a mutation, a mutation that could be the product of...being a reincarnation of a being of pure energy with powers? Your past life should be clearly separated from you now, but it ISN'T because you clearly remember being Bill and you have physical traits that relate you to him, so…" Ford groaned loudly and pulled at his fluffy (and greasy from not showering) curly hair. "UUURGGHHH!" Perhaps the Weirdness was latched onto Seb's Soul? And the radiation from that energy had caused some cellular mutations? Radiation DID cause mutation, so it was possible, perhaps the Weirdness altered Seb's body to be able to contain and produce the powers he had?

Seb laughed at his expression. "Come on, Sixer, don't get stressed, you'll find out what's going on." Seb patted Ford's hair, grimaced in disgust, wiped it on his pants, and went to sit down next to the kids. "From what I'm aware, the Axolotl created my vessel from your bodies...I'm not sure HOW, but I...doubt we were all created at the same time…"

"Or we were." Ford commented as he looked into the microscope, very concentrated. "And the mutation happened when Bill's soul, got into the human body that is yours now…" Reincarnation was fascinating, and very complicated. Frankly, most of the scientific community didn't even believe Souls were real, and Ford only knew that Souls were real because of all his experiences with the paranormal.

Normally, with how small DNA was, it couldn't actually be seen that easily. They had to be treated with dyes and placed into multiple chemicals in little trays to make sure the cells were alive and would grow to divide. Fiddleford and he had worked together to build the equipment for the lab. His knowledge of the technology he encountered in space combined with Fiddleford's brilliant engineering helped to build this special microscope (along with all his other lab tools and machines, unique, patented and far more advanced than any other equipment) that COULD zoom in enough to see the samples he had carefully treated with some chemicals more easily than normal ones.

It would have normally taken long hours to look at the chromosomes and weeks to get the results he was looking for gene per gene. Now it would take him barely an hour. "Thank Ax for your incredible, perfect and almost magical technology!" Seb fake cheered. Ford huffed softly and focused back on the sample he was studying. This was Seb's, he wanted to study his first. Now that he thought about it, he should have gotten a sample of himself, to compare just how different their DNA could actually be.

"Look, Sixer! I made a suit! It's inspired by you! I call it Nerd & Greasy!" Seb showed his brother his tablet with a large grin and Ford glared at the stick figure drawing he did. "Stop it! I'm working!"

"You don't like my drawing?" Seb pouted with mock sadness but Ford wasn't going to fall for that. "No. Now let me see how we can fix your children."

Seb stopped and stayed quiet. He...He didn't like how Ford said the kids needed to be 'fixed', as if they were wrong. They weren't...

Ford focused on the samples, unaware of the effects of his words. He never noticed those kinds of things. His super intelligent brain could memorize almost anything, but when it came to human emotions or anything subjective, the oldest Pines brother was utterly clueless. Interpersonal intelligence was the only intelligence he lacked, while Stan excelled in that. He understood people (and used it to his favor). In simpler terms, Stanford Pines was a jerk. But an unintentional jerk.

The scientist waited for the cells to reach their metaphase state so he could see the chromosomes. Finally, when they were condensed and properly dyed, he could take a good look at them. It didn't take long for him to notice what wasn't normal. First of all, the pair of chromosomes marked as 1 was longer than their siblings, as if it had an additional piece just in the lowest chunk. The chromosomes were dyed red, and while a few tiny parts were tinted yellow, this particular one was extremely bright. He zoomed in and found that, that particular gene was glowing.

"Ok...I think I found something…" Seb looked up from stroking Zoe's round head. "You have an additional gene which is glowing yellow so I'm going to suppose that's where your powers originate." Ford adjusted a few dials. "None of the others have that glow to them. And it's quite distinctive…" Though, to Ford's surprise, the glow faded even as he observed it. The gene segment appearing to… decay rapidly as the cell finished dividing. Within a few minutes, and a few more divisions, there was no trace of that extra gene at all. Ford stared. This was… amazing.

That gene, which Ford mentally dubbed the 'Weirdness Gene™', decayed quickly once it was removed from the body. Well, that would explain why Sebastian's blood tests came back normal. The machines used to test blood in regular hospitals took hours, the gene would have destroyed itself long before then, leaving behind completely innocuous samples that were probably near identical to the rest of his triplets. No one would have ever known that Seb's DNA wasn't entirely human…

… which explained how he could pass it on. His children probably inherited that extra gene from him. Perhaps that gene sequence didn't decay as quickly in sperm, or, it made it to an egg quickly enough that it was kept alive? Ford would have to do more tests. ...could he ask his brother for a sperm sample…

"What?!" Seb sputtered when Ford voiced his question aloud. "Heck no! That's gross, man!" The younger man made an embarrassed face and blushed.

"But- science!" Ford (didn't) whine. Seb glared. "Hell no. Nope. Nah, ah! No way." He shook his head. "Now what did you find out?" The youngest triplet asked. Ford was disappointed at the refusal of DNA samples, but turned around in his seat to face his brother. "So, you DO in fact, have slightly different DNA. An extra gene segment on your first Chromosome. However, it seems to destroy itself and vanish within…" Ford checked his watch and thought about how long it had been since he'd drawn blood from his brother, "...10 minutes or so. Which is why your DNA could pass as mine. Once the rest results came back, no one would have any way of seeing that there was something extra."

Seb stared. Then he got angry. "That stupid lizard just stuck my powers onto the FIRST chromosome?! That lazy little bi-!"

"Well, regardless. I think this supports my hypothesis that your powers are indeed, heritable. Somehow. I would need to check your children's blood and other samples to be sure that they have the gene as well. Though, by this point, they must have decayed like yours did." Ford adjusted his glasses. Which would mean that he wouldn't be able to find the glowing gene, but it didn't mean he couldn't run other tests on their blood for more research. Especially for the whole, comparing Ford's own blood with his brothers. He could do that later.

Seb was still ranting angrily. Ford went back to studying the blood samples. "You know, I believe that this Weirdness Gene™ must be in charge of making you generate your odd energy signature. With that Seal on your back, that energy would build up but it couldn't be expressed or released, which caused you lots of pain. Perhaps it simply took 18 years for the energy to build up enough to hurt, and it would leak out through your seal, which must have been agonizing…" Ford spoke casually, not realizing how insensitive it was to speak about Seb's suffering so simply.

Seb twitched. "Yeah. Agonizing…" He sighed. Stupid Axolotl. Stupid seal. At least his children didn't have that damn thing. He wouldn't have been able to stand it if they had to suffer like he did. He'd surely revive Cipher just to make him heal them, he'd have never known if Gravity Falls would break their seals...

Ford got a new saliva sample from the babies (disappointed because he couldn't take blood from them again, unless he wanted to hurt them, which he DIDN'T) who were starting to wake up, to repeat the process. He used two microscopes this time, to work at the same time. "Come on~ Show me my hypothesis verification~" Again, their chromosome number 1s were larger, but the gene didn't glow yellow, it was green in Zoe's and a soft blue in Zully's.

"Why is it a different color? What's changing it? I used the same dye." Ford mused to himself. It was definitely the same additional gene, sitting there as if it owned the place. The only thing Ford could think of was that they produced a different… 'flavor' of Weirdness.

He looked closer and was a little intrigued at these observations. He remembered the first results from his Weirdness scanner had given him plenty of readouts. He checked them and did a double take back then. All of them still registered as human. But with Weirdness energy. Ok, this was the base for this problem. Humans naturally born with weirdness. That wasn't normal. Ford decided to try and isolate the Weirdness energy by itself to try and figure out what 'species' of Weirdness it was coming from.

Perhaps they would develop different powers once they were older? Or maybe they would express their powers in a different way? He was getting more and more excited about this. The possibilities! And he was the first to see it! All by himself!

He went to get his scanner and changed a few settings. This was a new function that Fiddleford had helped him add last month. He held the machine up to his brother to take another reading. Yup, Sebastian rated as 50% Weirdness levels.. He checked the twins, they should have similar levels, or at least ratios.

Ford read the readings and thought about it. No that wasn't how it worked. Seb was 50/50 from being half demon and half human (energy wise) and since the twins were more human, their percentages should ACTUALLY go down…

...and yes. Zoe's Weirdness levels were around 25% as Ford suspected. Zully was…

Ford froze. Zully was clocking in at a little over 75% Weirdness. How was this possible?! Her readings were HIGHER than Sebs! Ford went cold. If Seb was 50/50 because of his soul being Bill Cipher… and he would pass on 25% weirdness to his kids, as shown by Zoe's reading, the only POSSIBLE way for Zully to get higher would be if... Zully's soul wasn't human...

No. That couldn't be right. Ford shook his head. There had to be some other reason. He needed more tests.

"Why don't you wake them up? I need to see them use their powers." The scientist said quickly. "They need to sleep." Seb frowned a bit and stood in front when his brother wanted to grab Zully. "They're stirring anyway!" Ford pointed out. "I need to study them." He was staring at them. Seb glared. "My CHILDREN are not your test subjects. Leave them alone." He didn't like the way Ford was saying it, maybe if he had been more tactful, Seb would have accepted, but Stanford wasn't tactful. He was speaking as if the twins were...

"But you need to see what their powers are anyway! They could be dangerous, they might hurt you and Wanda- And if you know what they can do, you can better control them, fix them-" or seal and contain them, if they really were...

"Stop! Saying! That!" Seb hissed. "My children are FINE. They don't need FIXING!" Seb trembled. They weren't broken. They were perfect, sweet babies. Nothing at all like him… Seb shook his head. "I'm gonna go put the twins somewhere they can sleep better…" Seb cradled his children and made his way back to the Shack.

"You-You were the one who wanted my help! You wanted to know how their powers worked to control them!" Ford shouted with a glare. "Sebastian this is important!" Ford didn't have time for his triplet's foolish stubbornness! Zully might be dangerous!

"I wanted your help, I didn't want you to… to tell me that their powers were something wrong that had to be FIXED!" Seb's eye teared up. "I wanted help to teach them how to control their powers better, you said that if I knew what weirdness it was, you'd be able to help me stop them from hurting themselves!" Seb sniffled "B-but I don't like how you-you see us as some stupid experiment for your entertainment!"

...or as a threat to be fixed...

"But it is...it IS an experiment, it's research! You have Weirdness in your DNA because you were Bill Cipher, and now your children have the same defect, but it doesn't look like yours! If you don't let me do my research- I EVEN VOLUNTEERED to do it for YOU, then who is to say their powers aren't from another demon?!" Ford cried, almost desperately. If they were another demon, then everyone was in danger- what if Bill was reincarnated too? If it happened to Sebastian then-

Seb stopped and slowly turned around. "You...That's why you asked me before...You don't care about the twins' powers at all, do you?! You just think the kids could be reincarnated monsters?! Are you stupid?!"

Ford twitched. He wasn't stupid! "Not as stupid as you, who clearly denies that something's wrong here! And I care about them, they're my nieces, but my scanner shows high concentrations of Weirdness in Zully- and you HAVE to admit that if YOU are a demon, nothing-" Ford shook, "-nothing stops THEM from being one too! Do you really want monsters as kids?" The scientist asked, attempting to joke about it, but his brother hugged the twins closer.

"...What if they were!? You-You clearly don't want a monster as a brother...I thought you had...gotten over it…" Seb turned around and walked away faster. Figures. Ford STILL didn't… didn't trust him… or his children! Seb clenched his eye shut. That awful feeling was growing in his chest again. He itched. He could feel that awful urge to begin clawing at himself again.

He… he wasn't alright. He… he wanted Linda… he wanted to talk to her. To cry and scream and let her know how awful he felt because his brother was a fucking stupid head who made him feel bad and she said no one should be allowed to make him feel bad for being himself! The twins opened their eyes and stirred restlessly at the agitation they could feel from their dad. Seb winced when he heard them whimper. "No, no, no, don't cry! I'm fine! I promise!"

He quickly went back to the Shack, and locked himself and the twins there. Seb put the kids on the bed. His chest was tightening and breathing was getting harder. No! NO! BREATHE! BREATHE! He refused to-to- "AAAAHHHHH!" Sebastian screamed and hit his head against the wall. Zach and Zoe jumped, startled at the horrible noise. Their daddy began hitting the wall with his hands now until his knuckles bled. The babies sobbed in distress. No! No, daddy don't cry! ""Papa!"" they wailed, scared of what was happening.

Ford sat in his chair, slowly stroking his right sixth finger. He-he didn't understand. What had he done to upset Sebastian this time? Why did he always end up upsetting him when he was simply trying to help? He was just worried for his brother's safety. If the twins were actually demons… Sebastian could get hurt! Wanda could get hurt! Ford was just trying to…

He sighed, rubbing his face. If Stan were here, he'd probably call him an idiot. And demand that he apologize to Sebastian. Not that Ford knew what for. He probably should though. He didn't want Seb to be angry at him. He should tell his brother that this was for Sebastian's own good. He said it himself! The twins burned down their living room! If Sebastian had, had powers as a baby, he was sure their parents would have done something as well! Some way to make him stop using his powers, or bind them down or… or...

Ford put his elbows on the table and sulked.

Ford was clearly ignoring the fact that the twins didn't have a father who hated their very existence. He wasn't even connecting the dots to see what Seb's point of view was on this topic.

All Ford could think of was his reading and what it could mean. Having a high concentration of Weirdness might be possible, genetics were strange sometimes, but it couldn't be possible for a human child to contain more Weirdness than the parent they got their powers from-

Unfortunately, Ford had yet to make a machine capable to seeing Souls, so he had no way to figure this out.

It took Seb a while to calm down. He had to get a warm drink and a few bandages for his hands. He didn't mean to hurt himself this much, it just...happened, and now he felt terrible, Linda and Wanda would be so disappointed. He had thought it was a good idea. Now he saw just how stupid he was. The babies calmed down when he calmed down, and were accompanying him with warm bottles of milk. "You aren't wrong, you're perfect just the way you are, Stanford's wrong…" He rubbed their tummies. "You can burn anything you want, I shouldn't have asked him for help, I can handle this myself... "

It wasn't until tomorrow that Ford looked for his brother to apologize. He had thought about it and he came to the conclusion that calling his nieces monsters was bad and he didn't mean it that way, he wasn't trying to insult Sebastian or the babies. Seb accepted Ford's apology, even as he bit back his own angry words about how he REALLY felt about Ford's off-handed hurtful comments.

Seb still took the kids and left, making the long trip back across the country. This had all been a waste of time. At least know he knew that he really DID have some kind of weirdness gene that he could pass on. But he left without anything to help him control the kids' powers, because Ford had cared more to see what made them tick, what made them monsters. He hoped Ford liked their samples, he was surely going to publish another paper about it or something and be even more famous…

"Papa, I-Isher?" Zully asked as they played with Seb's extra finger. Seb stroked their hair. "I'm ok...we just didn't have a good time in Gravity Falls, did we?" Zully rested their head on his chest. No, Daddy was sad there. "But it's ok, sometimes we-we fight with family, but-but it doesn't mean they-they don't love us, even though they're mean."

Zoe puffed her cheeks and hugged her dad's hand. Isher made daddy sad. But her and Zully will make him happy...Mommy seemed to join, because she was very worried after they came back and Seb didn't look happy. Dad was always happy after seeing his family. Mommy wanted to kiss him and Zoe allowed mommy to kiss her daddy, just because he needed love...

"And...And he found in my DNA a gene that proves that I'm a monster and it explains why-why I still have my powers and how my past really isn't my past because there isn't a clear line, and then he said I passed it down to my kids so now they're monsters too, or that I didn't pass them down and they could be reincarnations too, but he called us monsters and said my kids needed to be fixed, and it hurt me when he said that and-and I got so stressed and angry and it hurt and I punched the wall until I bled, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"

Linda rubbed her eyes and sighed. So Sebastian had another fight with his brother...the one whom he had always had problems with because he used to call him names, and then that summer when he 'came back from the portal' he called him a monster and a demon (his brother also seemed to believe Seb's invented backstory?) And now...he 'confirmed' Sebastian and his kids were demons and backed it up saying he found a GENE?!

What was even going on with this family?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wiii conflict! Leave your reviews! We love reading them!


	7. Chapter 6: Interlude. Shermie and Abigail Pines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What does it take to raise two babies when you're still a baby yourself?

_Because these idiotic but loving parents deserve recognition_.

_So let us talk of the old days~_

\---

Mabel and Dipper laughed as they jumped over their parents’ sleeping forms. Shermie and Abi groaned loudly as their teens curled up next to them. “We’ve decided to bother you for breakfast!” Mabel snuggled next to her mom, tickling her with her long brown hair. “Get off me, Mason!” Shermie groaned louder when Dipper pulled the covers and his naked chest was exposed to the chilly morning air.

“What do you want from us!?” Abigail complained. “It’s too early for this!”

“We want food!” “Fooood!!” “FOOOODDD!” The twins moaned at the same time, Mabel rubbing her mom’s cheeks. Shermie managed to throw his son off him and covered his face with his pillow. If he couldn’t see them, they couldn’t see him. “There’s cereal, feed yourself.” He mumbled.

“Uncle Seb made us pancakes when we stayed with him~” Mabel lifted the pillow from his face.

“Well, if that’s the case you can go live with Uncle Seb and never come back!” Abigail taunted. The twins gasped and hugged her. “Nooo!"

At the end, the parents had to wake up to feed their demanding children. They have been doing it for 14 years and in a month, it’d be 15 years. Time had passed just so, so fast… Shermie looked at his children with a grin, (teenagers~, they were teens now, not kids. Mabel always reminded him) as they ate their breakfast. Like shit, they were almost to the age he was when he had them...

"So what do you want to do for your birthday?" Abigail asked. "We talked to Dillon and he wants to see everybody again so we gotta go in a few weeks to Gravity Falls and we will stay there like 3 weeks." Dipper nodded. "Last time Dillon was sung in August, this time is the other way round! And if we go in July, dad can be sung happy birthday too!"

The parents smiled and Mabel continued. "I also want to go to Gravity Falls because I wanna see Candy and Grenda!" Mabel said, her mouth full of bread. "And Dipper SURELY wants to see Pacificaaaa~!"  The girl punched Dipper's arm, who embarrassed, punched her back.

"OW!" Mabel complained with an angry pout, rubbing her hurting arm. "Dipper! Don't hurt your sister!" Shermie scolded. "But she hit me first!-and she's doing it right now!" Dipper motioned at Mabel, repeatedly hitting him. "Mabel, don't." Abigail scolded.

"But, well, I do...want to go to Gravity Falls...but ALSO because I'm determined to show you a monster this time!" The teen clarified. Shermie laughed, "Sure, kiddo, I'll ask your uncles if they can go."

Mabel blew a raspberry. "HAH! They ARE going, it's not even an option~We have their presents. If they want them, they have to go!" She waved a dismissive hand. Abigail laughed softly at her daughter's antics. She reminded him of Shermie, he could be so dramatic sometimes.

Vacations were different ever since Shermie and Abi sent the twins to Seb that one year. Dipper didn't consume himself day and night playing video games (he still did, but less), he instead wrote and read a lot. What he WROTE was worrying, but at least his brain wasn't rotting in front of a screen. Mabel was the same, always sweet and kind to everyone, but she came back pretty interested in Karate and Shermie was more than happy to teach her self defense and how to break someone's hand in an emergency.

They were so proud of the twins, they've grown and changed so much...They weren't much younger than them, but the couple would do anything for their children. Despite everything they went through for them, they couldn't imagine life any other way. Mabel and Dipper were far too important to them.

Abi left for her morning shift at the hospital (not without a kiss from her kids and husband) and Shermie claimed the living room as his to work on his latest assignment. Lucky kids had vacations. Not them though. They had to work forever. Heck, He’d been working ever since he graduated and even before that. Shermie winced a little at the thought. Part time jobs, long nights of working, studying and caring for the twins… his childhood pretty much ended at 15 because he was expected to be a father. Shermie smiled nostalgically. It was hard. He was a kid, but he couldn’t be a kid anymore. Not when he and Abigail had a responsibility.

At some point in the evening, Mabel poked her head into the room. "Hey, papa~ Jenny's mom will come pick us up to watch a movie with my other friends and we're gonna eat there! She’ll bring us home tonight!"

"Wait. And who gave you permission?" Shermie raised his glasses questioningly. Then Dipper appeared. "You? We're asking you?" Both grinned widely. Shermie rolled his eyes. "Very funny…"

"Pleeaseee? We haven't gone out with friends in ages!" Dipper begged. "Cute cartoon movie!" Mabel added. Their dad sighed in defeat. "Ok. Do you need money?" "Nopey, it's a birthday party! Jenny, remember? Came to the house once. Thought you were our older brother." That...wasn’t a rare occurrence...

"Oh." Shermie nodded with a bark of laughter. "Ok, yes, I remember. Alright, text me when you’re there and when you're coming back." The twins cheered and ran away. Shermie missed the time when they needed him, even though he always teased them saying he was glad they were leaving home soon. That wasn’t true. There was a time when he complained because he had to drive them everywhere because they were useless babies, but now they could do things on their own and he wasn't needed at all and it made him feel very weird.

He distracted himself with his work, feeling old and sad for missing his little twins under his legs, begging to take them to the park and 'pway'...

"Shermie, you ugly thing, where are our spawns?" The green eyed-man jumped with a loud scream at the sudden voice. He looked back and saw his wife laughing. "Hello, ugly witch, why are you here, you ruined my peace~" The young parents laughed before kissing each other on the lips. "I'm not early, you're in your Pj's at 5pm. I looked for the twins and they aren't here?"

"They left...a few hours ago to watch a movie with some friends…" All by themselves… Abigail checked her phone, no messages from the twins, and pouted. "Have you eaten? Let's order something." 30 minutes later, the two were sitting in front of the TV, munching on their hamburgers as they watched a movie. It was all...so quiet.

"It's so weird to have the house all for ourselves, huh?" Abigail asked. "Yeah, usually the twins are somewhere screaming or making noise or singing disney songs… or setting the curtains on fire..." Shermie agreed. Seriously, what was Dipper even thinking to do with all those candles!? Abi nodded slowly. "Yeah...but we let them get away with too many things...Even the curtains thing! And bringing home that pet pig!” She laughed, eyeing Waddles who was napping on his bed in the living room. At least he was a small pig (relatively speaking). Shermie grumbled. Fat naked jerk... “They’re cute though, we can’t say no to them...even less when they were little, they were so cute…"

A commercial of diapers eventually interrupted their movie and Shermie and Abi shared a weird look before Abi spoke. "I don't want another baby…" The young woman said quickly.  "Ugh, thank god! I thought I was getting it all wrong." The young man threw himself back. "It's just...I can't believe how fast it all was…" Abi nibbled a french fry. "And now the twins feel so grown up…" Abi hugged her husband.

"I think it's my brother's fault, for having babies now and reminding us of what we lost~" Shermie took a hand to his forehead and the dark-haired woman laughed. "You're right, it's ALL their fault…But we worked way harder…" "We had it HARDEST!" Shermie laid down, pulling Abi on top of him to kiss her. His hands roamed down to her thighs as Abigail stuck her hands inside his shirt to feel his abs.

As much fun as they could have together, their first time was stupidly stupid, alcohol was stupid, they were stupid, and the product of it scared the living shit out of both of them. She got pregnant, and they recognized they totally fucked up. Shermie always blamed it on his rebellious, angry- with- the -world phase, when he submerged himself in his karate lessons, violence, alcohol and even some drugs. He wasn't proud to admit it. And it was all because he wanted to be as far away from his family as possible. He also blamed Abigail for following him and agreeing to do his dumb stuff when she was the goody two shoes, but that didn't work either, that only earnt him a slap.

 _"Oh. My. God~ Abigail ended up being such a slut~"_ One of THOSE girls used to mock Abi when they were still in New Jersey. It was known that Abigail was a good girl, A+ student, and the other kids just got the perfect excuse to mock her.

 _“Fuck off!”_ One of Abi’s friends had flipped that other girl off and led their friend away, her eyes full of tears and about to cry. _“Don’t listen to her, we all know SHE’S the real slut, and a bitch!”  
_

Shermie’s friends, all but a few, just thought it was hilarious to tease him to no end. “You’re so fucking stupid.” “If I were you, I’d say that kid isn’t mine and call it a day, you seriously want a brat to ruin your life?!” “Yeah, I’m not gonna help with shit, you should have asked me for a condom first!”

His real friends always reassured him that even if he WAS stupid, it was his brat and he should take responsibility, but they were going to be there for him, not to help changing a single diaper, that was HIS problem, but EMOTIONALLY be there for him. Despite everything, Shermie was grateful for the support.

Shermie sighed. Man, it felt both so long ago and so recent. “Where did the years go?” He wondered. Abigail hummed as she laid against his chest. “I think we did well for ourselves, all things considered.” “I think we did...I mean, the kids are alive~” Abigail hit his chest softly, dumb man, before she laid down again. “I’m proud of ourselves…” Abigail yawned and snuggled closer. Her shifts were so irregular, she had a night one just yesterday...Tired…

“No~ Abi, no! I need to work~” Shermie tried to stand up but failed. After an exaggerated huff, he got comfortable on the couch, with an arm wrapped around Abi so she wouldn’t fall (it had happened), and he closed his eyes, just for a bit. A little nap couldn’t hurt...

//-//- _//_

It wasn't even 5 in the morning when Shermie and Abi opened their eyes. The twins were sobbing and only Abi's parents’ shouts managed to wake them up. "Kiidds!!! The babies are crying!!" Abigail whimpered as Shermie covered himself with the blankets. No! He was tired! It wasn’t fair, they haven't had a single good night in months, and they were just so tired…

The two teens angrily marched up towards the babies' room. "Please, stop crying, we all just want to sleep…” They cradled the small babies to themselves. The boy closed his eyes for a second and almost fell to the floor with Mason. "Give him a bottle, dumbass." Abi snapped as she adjusted Mabel in her arms and tiredly lifted a part of her shirt.

Shermie blinked blearily and stumbled over to the cabinet where they kept the baby formula. “Wish I could just hold him to my chest and feed him…” Shermie grumbled. That was much easier and less work. Babies did the job themselves and Abi could sleep. Bottles meant holding it for them and making sure he didn’t drop the bottle on their tiny faces. Mixing the bottles was so annoying. And he needed to heat up the water, but not too hot and not too cold. Ugh, he was too tired for this shit right now…Stupid...dumb...bottles! Ugh, it was alright as it was!

But~ it really wasn’t. It was too hot and Mason cried even louder when it burnt his sensitive tongue. Shermie wanted to cry too. “I’m sorry…I'm so sorry, Mason, I’m just… so tired…I’m so sorry...” Shermie whimpered. He looked over to see Abi passed out with Mabel suckling on her chest. Uggghhhh… Shermie whined loudly, stomping the floor with a foot, went over and pulled Mabel off, placing Mason down there instead. “Here, you’ve had enough, give your brother some”

Mason was still whimpering because his tongue hurt, but he was hungry too so he suckled and cried even as he did so. Shermie held Mabel up and tried to burp her. She was fussing, she wasn’t done eating! But Shermie didn’t care, he was tired. He just wanted some sleep. He burped Mabel and put her back in her crib, laying down next to Abi on one of the many pillows scattered around the twins’ room and passed out.

He and Abi woke again to Mabel and Mason’s cries. Mabel was still hungry, she couldn't go back to sleep, and Mason had slid off Abi’s chest at some point and had been lying on an awkward angle on the pillow for a while. Shermie and Abi started crying themselves, Shermie even louder. He had SCHOOL in the morning! He was struggling in class as it was!

Abigail’s parents eventually came over, and took pity on the dead-looking teenagers, carrying the wailing and upset babies.

So, as good, grandparents, they helped to feed and put the babies back to bed so the poor teenagers could get another hour of sleep before school. Or well, Shermie could, Abi's classes were in the afternoon-night.

School was living hell. When they made their little arrangement to not miss their education, they thought it was genius, but now the teens regretted everything. Waking up early to go to school was hell. When Abi was pregnant, they studied together but not anymore! He'd been here for less than a year in California and everyone knew him already, they called him "the teen father". The friends he had were nice, but he couldn't even enjoy breaks or lunch. If he wasn't falling asleep in class, he was sleeping at the nursery, or the principal's office (who became nicer to him after having a child of his own) or in drastic cases, a closet room or the floor.

Then, as soon as school was done, he had to fly to his part time job, where nasty people ordered him around, everyone complained, and his short patience was tested. He HAD to though, and he  HATED it!! "Sheerrmie!!" A girl called him as he sprinted out. "I'll be organizing a party, it’ll be great! You can bring a guest!"

Shermie stared at the paper with the saddest expression in the world. "I...I can't...We have to take care of the babies and my in laws refuse to babysit…" Some kids also teased him about being married, but some kind girls liked to ask him to show them his ring, thinking it was all really romantic. It wasn't valuable as shit. They won the pair of rings in a fair they went to together back in New Jersey. His was a silver painted metal ring with a little blue plastic oval on it, and Abi's was the same but the 'jewel' was pink and heart shaped. They liked their 'wedding rings'. Not only because buying a fancy ring from the jewellers was a freaking ripoff (they didn't have money for those, they didn't deserve them, and cheap rings were simply better anyway), but because their parents thought it suited them.

They were kids getting married for playing adult...

The girl smiled sadly. "Right, you have brats, huh? Well, maybe next time."

Working was so hard. He had to take energy drinks and coffee CONSTANTLY or he'd pass out at the counter. He was so tired of this, he wanted to sleep, he wanted to go out with his friends, he wanted to go to parties! His life was RUINED! He wanted to be a kid again!

And after work, his father in law would pass by to pick him up to go home. He knew Shermie was tired and doing his best, so he earned a free ride home from the stern man. By the time he was home, Abi was long gone to her afternoon classes, and Shermie stayed at home...with Mabel and Mason…

He dragged himself to their room, and smiled softly at his gurgling 4 and a half month old children. As much as his life was HELL, he couldn’t blame the kids. He loved them so much. The teenager sighed as he leaned against the crib and closed his eyes. Maybe… just a little nap… he had homework but he could do that later. Sebastian had told him that no matter what, he had to graduate high school, something that Seb never got to do. So Shermie wouldn’t give up on that. Not ever!

It was nice enough that Abigail’s parents allowed them to keep the kids in their house. Shermie’s own father had pretty much told him ‘you’re on your own’ and kicked him out. His Ma, bless her soul, had wanted to keep them, to keep at least one of her children with her… but Filbrick had refused. Poor Kari was alone now, Stan was missing, Ford was dead, Seb was somewhere in Oregon (living in the same freaking house where Ford was killed!), and now her last child, Shermie, had been disowned as well. After the huge argument THAT created, Kari had finally left her husband.

She told Shermie, during one of their phone calls, that the only reason she’d stayed had been for her sons. And now that Filbrick had essentially rid himself of them all, then she had no more reason to suffer Filbrick’s presence anymore. Shermie knew his Ma was living with Carla now, she had a baby just a month older than the twins, Stanley's son... Shermie shook his head to get rid of the sad thoughts. They came to visit sometimes, but travelling all the way to California was hard on her and Shermie didn't feel well being with Carla...He was never close to her and...and the last time he saw Stanley... Shermie told him to fuck off… He was still ashamed of that and he didn't want to show his face around Carla...

Shermie woke with a jolt when the twins began to cry again. He had begun to slip and half his body was crushing them. He rubbed his eyes, yawned, and pushed himself to his feet. “Hey~ I'm sorry, do you want dinner? It's dinner time right?”

He went to the cabinet to get some formula, but found it all gone. He groaned loudly. Fuck, he remembered just now that he said he was going to buy more…Why didn't Abi leave milk ready?! How selfish!! She could make it for FREE. Just because she didn't want to do _her_ job and milk herself, they had to buy formula and make HIM prepare it! 

When the twins were properly fed, bathed (with help from his mother in law, bless her soul too), and put to sleep, Shermie could finally start solving those 30 math exercises he had to present tomorrow...and that stupid essay he had been pushing off... He felt like crying again. This was so HARD. Sometimes he called Sebastian for help but his brother wasn’t much better at school work than he was and Shermie didn’t want to bother him.

He thought of Mason and Mabel though. They needed him to graduate. They needed both of them to graduate and work and be someone to continue giving them food and buying them clothes and diapers. They were so, so small…

So Shermie sucked it up and opened his math book. He had homework and he better finish it! For his babies' sake...He fell asleep on the table as soon as he finished his homework, drooling a bit. Abigail returned home late, exhausted at the mere thought of waking up in a few hours to feed the babies. But the twins' beautiful sleeping faces made all this sacrifice worth it. She kissed their foreheads, and kissed Shermie's forehead, before going to sleep.

\---.--

The twins started walking at some point and the teens couldn't believe it. They went from useless limp demanding babies to slightly bigger babies who wanted to see and grab everything! It was...amazing...If it didn't mean running after them to stop them from pulling cables, tablecloths and sticking their fingers into the plugs.

"And, I'm not kidding, he turned red crying his eyes out because I didn't allow him to put his pacifier inside the plug! So I'm an asshole for stopping him from killing himself?!" Shermie complained to his big brother over the phone.  "What an asshole~ Let him die if he wants to." Sebastian cackled. "SEB!"

"Ok, geez, I'm kidding, don't let your spawn die…"

Shermie rolled his eyes. Seb didn't know. Seb didn't understand what it was like to watch over the kids, to worry about them hurting themselves or breaking something...while feeling stupidly proud of it at the same time…

Abi and him had returned to high school together. Now that the babies didn't need to be fed every second, Abi could go to school at the regular time with other high schoolers. It was so weird to return. In her afternoon school, there were adults, but now she was back to school with sweaty and gossiping 15-16 year olds she didn't know, but they knew _her:_ She was Pines' _wife_ , she had had kids with him and had to get married, she had been going to an afternoon school because of their kids and now she was back to normal school.

Abigail tried her best to ignore the gossip. She stuck with Shermie of course and his friends, and eventually made some great friends herself. There were moments where they felt...normal again. They weren't _endlessly_ tired anymore because the kids could finally sleep all night long, they had more energy during the day; they joked around with their friends, worked together in dumb school projects, talked about the latest cartoons, and they felt...normal again.

Of course after returning from work, everything changed. They had different responsibilities than their friends. Shermie's friends could play video games for hours, he had to play with little dolls and bright toys with the twins. Abi's friends got together and talked about boys at school and read magazines, she had to feed the babies.

 One of their friends complained about how he wanted to grow up so his parents could buy him a car, another complained about wanting to finish school already to go to college. Abi and Shermie were terrified of that. That had had to grow up earlier to be parents, growing up more meant more responsibilities, for them and for the twins, they didn't want that.

One day, as they were all walking out of school, Abi and Shermie paled when they saw Abi's mom's car parked there with a big smile, and she had brought the _babies_...

"What are you doing here?!" Shermie hissed, pulling at his hair. Mason blinked as he looked around until he finally spotted his parents. He smiled widely, proudly showing off his new white teeth and babbled loudly. "BA! MAMA!!" He reached for the teens. Abi and Shermie winced a bit as the other teens, also getting out of school, saw them, snickered and gossiped.

“Mom! Why did you bring them?!” Abigail wailed as she strode up to pick up her babies. She patted Mason's head softly, but she felt weird now that her classmates were seeing her.

Her mom smiled, not noticing or not caring at their embarrassment. "You forgot? The twins have a check up today. We agreed I was picking you two up to take them."

Shermie and Abi looked at each other. Oh...So that was why they had a free day today. They had forgotten WHY they asked for a day off work… "Wait, so we aren't going to the cinema anymore?" One of their friends pouted. Shermie pouted back. “Sorry man, we have stuff to do.”

The young couple pouted hard all the way to the hospital. Not fair. They had been looking forward to it all day! Shermie looked at Mabel, chewing on her fist as it was the only thing she could do on her car seat, and he smiled a bit. "We can always buy the movie later, no?" He whispered at his wife and kissed her nose. Abigail laughed. “Yeah, besides, the theater will be packed, it’d be nicer to go after the first show anyway.”

The twins didn’t like the doctors. They fussed a lot, tried to hold each other's hand to not be separated and brutally attacked by the mean man (doctor). Shermie and Abi had to hold them still for the check up. They were getting some vaccination shots today. They screamed to call their parents’ attention to save them, but Shermie and Abi sat with their eyes closed. Nope! They were not seeing the needle! Just do it already! The doctor raised an eyebrow when both the couple and the twins started crying when they got a shot. Abigail’s mom facepalmed. 

“You did a very good job, kids, so brave!” The doctor later congratulated the sniffling twins and gave them a lollipop. Mason and Mabel gasped and started to lick their candy, their previous nasty experience forgotten. Then, the doctor looked at the pouting teens and chuckled. He had been the twins’ pediatrician since they moved to California, and knew them and the teens very well. “They’re very healthy babies, Abi, Shermie. You’re doing a very great job too!”  He offered them lollipops as well. They were not the first teen parents he had met, he had worked with some teen moms, but they were the first who were together and lived together to raise their kids.

Abi shrugged with a small smile and sucked on her lollipop too with some tears still fresh in her eyes. Listening to her children cry was more heart wrenching than she thought. They hadn’t come to their check ups for a while, her mom volunteered for most of their shots. Shermie looked at his lollipop and pouted. “Can I get a red one?” The doctor laughed loudly and kindly changed the green candy for a red one.

“Is everything going well at home? How do you see the twins?” The teens looked at Abi’s mom to reply, but she shook her head. She wasn’t the mom, they had to learn to speak to the doctor already. “They have teeth now, and it hurts to...you know…” The girl muttered. The doctor nodded. “You can start changing it to just bottles if you wish to stop breastfeeding them, with time your milk supply will be completely cut, or I could prescribe you a pill.” Abi blushed even more. Ugh, hearing the terms out loud was so _embarrassing_ … She wiggled awkwardly and stared down at her chest. Ugh again. Getting used to feeding the babies was horrible. Her body was used to it now and she didn’t feel all bloated anymore, but _still_ , her milk would leak if she didn’t feed them and that sucked. At least Shermie was always there for her when she felt bad.

They talked a bit more about Mason and Mabel, their diet now that they were 1 year old, their height, weight, vocabulary and walking. The two were growing quickly. Just yesterday they were little beans and now they were loud, shrieking and curious babies.

After what felt like an eternity, the family could finally go home. As they asked for a day off work, they had their evening off, which meant they both planned to use it to sleep, but the twins had napped during the way home, and they wanted to play now. Abi's mom waved and went to nap herself. Being a granny was tiring, even if she was only in her early 40s.

Shermie and Abi sat down on the floor, yawning, as the twins crawled around curiously. Shermie yawned and closed his eyes for a second, when suddenly, a small weight fell on his legs. He looked down, his green eyes lighting up when he saw Mabel on top of him, giggling. “Papa!” Shermie’s heart warmed up, proud that his baby managed to walk all the way towards him, and cradled her to his chest to give her a kiss. “I love you, pumpkin…” Mabel giggled and grabbed his nose.

\--.---

Shermie and Abi assumed that because the kids were older and less troublesome, it meant they didn't have to stay EVERY day to watch the twins playing or drooling over themselves. Their class had organized an amazing trip for everyone, going to Xtreme Park, full of roller coasters and other 'xtreme' rides that promised to make you throw up.

They assumed Abi's parents would act like good grandparents and let them have fun, they were so excited to go and spend a day with their friends!

They assumed wrong.

"MOM PLEASE!" Abi cried, tears welling up in her eyes. Shermie stayed quiet, doing his best not to argue with his in laws and focused on keeping his angry tears from falling. He didn't want to seem ungrateful. Her parents had taken him in, gave them a place to live and roof over their heads (after he got their little princess pregnant, he only expected his dick to be chopped off). But this was just… so unfair!

"Parenting is a full time job." Abigail's dad said solemnly. "Maybe once you're older and more responsible, we would feel alright with letting you go off and have fun while we babysit, but that is then and this is now." The man placed his hands in his hips. "You two were just going to leave your children with us? Just to go off and play around in some reckless, dangerous theme park?"

"What if you get hurt, or sick?" Abigail's mom said. "More than that, we aren't some free babysitters for you to dump your children on whenever you want." She shook her head. "You want us to babysit? You're going to have to pay us." Of course her mom didn't care about the money at all, she wanted the teens to learn to be responsible, the children didn't stop being their responsibility just when they wished for it.

"You're their STUPID grandparents!!" Abigail screamed. "You are SUPPOSED to take care of them!! My Grandma did it! And she didn't ask you to fucking pay her!"

"Watch your tone with us, young lady!! Who do you think we are?!" His dad shouted loudly and Shermie flinched. He already understood they weren't going, he had been reprimanded worse by his own father for less significant things, but Abi was just...different. Her parents liked her. She wasn't afraid when they raised their voices at her. She could scream back. Shermie and his siblings had never been able to talk back to Filbrick.

"We are responsible!! We work for them and study!! Why can't you do this dumb favor for us!? We-We never get to do anything!!" Abigail stomped her feet.

"You're going to spend 20 dollars each for the entrance fee, plus whatever things you want to buy inside, which is always expensive. Do you think it's responsible to waste that money? You ONLY work for your kids! Kids you had after being the _most irresponsible_ you could have EVER been, Abigail! It's both YOUR job to feed and care for the twins! I guess us helping you with everything ELSE doesn't count as a 'dumb favor' now does it?" Her mom hardened her glare. "We're the one's giving you the money to buy their diapers and formula. We're the ones who're paying for YOU two living here."

"Uurggh!! What. Ever!" Abi stomped towards the door. "Shermie! Let's go!" She shrieked, a sob escaping her throat. Shermie winced and when he didn't obey, Abi left, cursing angry. He turned to look at his in-laws. "...we've been working really hard. We just… wanted to take a short break. Just one day…" He told them quietly.

Abigail's mother sighed. "We know. But you need to learn this. You can't just keep relying on us. You're going to have to do this on your own eventually." She sent a sad look at the door Abi stormed through. "You won't be with us for much longer, you know that, right?"

Shermie angrily wiped his tears from his green eyes. He knew that. School will soon end and after college he didn't expect his in laws to have them in their house, even when they still could. He and Abi were expected to be adults after that… To pay their own bills...and taxes...and pay for the twins...He nodded. "I know…" Abi's dad left, upset that he had to shout at his only daughter (the last time he shouted at her was when they found out she was pregnant) and Abi's mom hugged Shermie, seeing how distressed he looked.

"We're sorry, but I'm sure your mom would say the same…" Shermie accepted the hug before pulling away. He knew. Ma would say the same, she also wanted him to be responsible for his own actions. "I-I'll bring Abi back."

He went outside and saw her curled up by the entrance, snuggling into her jacket as her tears streamed down her face. Shermie sat down next to her. "...Am I grounded?" She asked, barely noticeable. "I don't know, they never said it." Shermie wrapped an arm around her.

"I want to go!" She complained and the boy whimpered. "Me too…"

"If we go, they'd still should have watched the kids…" Abi suggested but Shermie sent her a look. "That would be irresponsible…" Shermie sighed.She snuggled closer. "We shouldn't have had kids, we were so stupid.. " the girl muttered. The teens stayed outside for a while to chill (quite literally it was really cold outside) before they returned to the house to curl up on their bed and warm up. They were sad, but resigned. Their parents were right...Mabel and Mason came before anything else.

 When the couple went back indoors and heard the babies squeal in joy at seeing them, it made the disappointment of missing the field trip more bearable.

\---.---

"I can assure you the answer is not that." One of Shermie's friends deadpanned. "Dude, it is!" Abi laughed. "You are not changing the symbol here. Negative and negative becomes positive."

"Oh. Right." The boy scratched his answer out as Shermie smugly kissed Abi's nose. So intelligent~

The two were going to school together again, and were doing homework together with some friends. It was a Saturday, the only time they could have friends over. During the week they had to work, but they were used to it, had been doing it for 2 years now.

"Mommy, daddy, wha you doin?" The 4 teens screamed when the tablecloth was pulled down and one of their glasses fell, spilling the soda everywhere. Luckily, the glass didn’t break.

""MASON!"" Abi and Shermie scolded. "Look what you did, booger!" Shermie groaned. Mason pulled at his shirt. "Wante to see…sowy." Mabel ran into the living room, dragging a Bardie the dinosaur doll by his leg (making Abi's friend coo) and went to pull Abi's hand. "Mommy! Hungwy! I wanna appel!"

Abigail rolled her eyes. “Alright sweetie. I’ll go peel some apples for you.” She got up and headed to the kitchen, Mabel squealed and ran after her. Shermie was wiping the soda off the floor. Thank god it was a wooden floor and not carpet. Mason was wiggling, sad that he messed up something. Shermie saw his expression and sighed. “I’m not THAT mad. Just be careful next time, alright kid?” Mason nodded, looking up at the table. “Wha you wowkin’ on?”

“We’re doing homework, baby, for school.” Abi’s friend picked Mason up to hug him. They were so adorable, twins were always adorable. “S’cool? Daddy and mommy go ther’!” Mason informed her, and the girl cooed. “Shermie, don’t worry about him anymore, I’ll adopt him!”

Shermie took off the wet tablecloth and laughed. “Ok, I can give him to you. Look at his forehead, it’s funny.” The girl lifted Mason’s curly bangs, making the toddler smile, and she gasped. “Oh my god~” The other boy leaned in to see. “Is...that a birthmark? Or your other kid drew that on his forehead?”

“Birthmark. It’s cute.” Shermie said, not noticing Mason was reaching for their notebooks and pencils.

“I don wan appel like tha’! I wan' big appel!” Mabel screamed from the kitchen. “M big!” They could hear Abigail laughing. “Okay sweetie. Yes, you’re a big girl.” While the teenagers were distracted, Mason got ahold of one of the notebooks and stared at it. It was filled with scribbles. He saw a pencil and took that so he could add scribbles too!

Mabel came back to show everyone her peeled apple. “Lookie! Daddy!” Shermie’s friend couldn’t help but grin. It was always so funny to hear the kids call his friend that. “It looks delicious~” Mabel offered it to him and he took a little bite to please her. “But we need to finish our homework, go watch Bardie with Mason, go~” Shermie grabbed his other toddler, put him on his feet, and shooed both kids out. They knew how to restart the VHS. Abi and him sat down on the table again and the other boy screamed when he saw his notebook had been scribbled on. “Shermie!”

The teen groaned. "Aaarrghhh! Just do it again, man, he didn't know… and it’s not like he covered up your answers." The twins did this all the time though! Despite telling them NOT to mess with their school work they STILL did it! Mabel once drew all over Abigail's report, and used their notebooks as personal coloring books. Worse of all, his in-laws supported all this! Even when they knew it pissed the teen parents off!

The triplets would have smacked his head if he had done that, especially Ford, definitely Ford...Shermie smiled with nostalgia. But his mother-in law didn't like that kind of 'barbaric raising'. That was just how Shermie grew up, he didn't know another way. But he was trying hard to be patient, he didn't want to be like his father, Seb was sure he wouldn't be, so he had to prove his big brother right. Besides, Filbrick was a dick and Shermie wanted nothing to do with him. Not even his parenting tactics!

"Urgh, still, he’s an annoying brat." The other teen complained. Shermie glared and leaned over the table to scribble on his friend's notebook. He could complain all he wanted, but no one else talked shit about his babies. "I'm more annoying!" He now covered his answers.

"DUUUDEEE!!!! WHAT THE FUCK!!"

Abi and her friend laughed.

\----

"I'll pick you two up when you're done." Abi's mom poked their noses. "Mom~ Do we HAVE to? You can stay too…"

"Um, going to parents meeting is your responsibility...And from what I remember, you didn't need my help to get pregnant and have two kids." Abigail’s mom scoffed. Shermie groaned loudly. "K! We get it!". The teens got out of the car, grumbling and embarrassed. They were in their last year of school, and Mabel and Mason were in preschool, and apparently parent meetings were a thing? 

The guard at the entrance looked at them weirdly but indicated where the Butterflies classroom was. Of course there were a few moms and dads there. "Hi, um...we came for the parents meeting?" Abi asked sheepishly. They didn't even know the twins’ teacher, her mom brought them in on their first day.

The teacher blinked, assuming these kids were the older siblings and had been sent in by their parents to get some seats while they parked the car, looked down at the list. “Name?”

“Mason and Mabel Pines.” Shermie said, shuffling his feet. All the other parents were adults! The teacher nodded and allowed them in.

Shermie and Abi stayed quiet as the parents talked to each other about how their kids were the best and how they needed to organize a party for everyone. The teens smiled a bit. Mabel would love that. She liked to make friends...

Eventually everyone was inside and the teacher started talking. She was going to start introducing herself and getting to know the parents until Mabel and Mason's parents came. After all the presentation, in which the teens weren't even given the chance to speak, she addressed the kids. "Hi, excuse me, are your parents going to come soon?"

"Our...parents?" Shermie asked confused. "The twins' parents, I'd like to start talking about the things in the schedule. "Oh…" Shermie blushed a bit. "We-We're their parents…" He gripped Abi’s hand under the table when all the other adults in the room turned to stare wide-eyed. “O-oh…” The teacher wavered. “But, that other woman--”

“That’s my mom.” Abigail sighed. “I can’t drive yet, and I had school so my mom dropped them off.” She noticed some of the other parents gaped, others shook their head, apparently disappointed, others smiled gently.

“Ok so...You-You can start with your schedule, or something, ma’am…” Shermie smiled a bit. The teacher nodded, apparently still in shock, and started talking. She mentioned things like having the immunization record completed, kids bringing normal bottles and not feeding bottles anymore, having to be potty-trained those who weren't, because it wasn't a nursery and they weren't nannies, bringing aprons to not get dirty when using paint and molding clay, and for boys to cut their hair. Then she asked the parents to ask their questions.

Abigail frowned. “Why do the boys have to cut their hair?” Mason liked to keep his hair long, to cover his forehead. It was mainly because Mabel would poke his birthmarks, she thought they were funny. She was starting to call him Dipper after her grandad, Abi's dad, told her Mason’s birthmark was shaped like that constellation.

“It’s just to have some order and cleanliness. Little boys run around and they get too hot.” She explained.

“But he likes his hair that way.” Shermie argued back. A man laughed. “Kid, _shut up_ and just listen to the teacher, you’re closer to the kids’ age to know what’s better.” Shermie was taken aback by the mean comment, and he turned his hands into fists, he wasn’t going to fight with him, he didn’t want to get in trouble. Abi patted his arm. “He gets really upset whenever he gets a haircut. It should be fine as long as he’s clean, right?” She asked.

The teacher sighed a bit. “We can talk about it later, ok sweetie?” Abi pursed her lips and nodded. She hated to be patronized, but she agreed with the teacher for now. There were another basic questions asked and then there was a small break before everyone had their turn with the teacher to ask personalized questions about their kids and to know how they were doing.

“Coofeeee~” Shermie whispered to Abi, who smiled excitedly as well. “We need coffee. Now.” They had to finish some homework after this, so they needed to NOT sleep. They went to the table with the coffee and a few parents chuckled when they saw the teenagers filling up their Styrofoam cups. “Kids and their coffee.” One man shook his head. Shermie ignored him, responding would mean he couldn’t continue drinking this magical life giving substance, he loved this so much~ The first time he tried coffee (he smiled sadly, it was Ford who let him try a bit from his cup), he despised it...What a FOOL he had been as a child...

“Gasp!” Shermie finally came up for air. “Woo! This is some good stuff!” He stretched and threw back the rest of his cup, licking at it to try and get the last bits. Abi’s chuckles where interrupted when a woman nearby frowned. “You’re teenagers, it’s not healthy to drink coffee--”

Shermie turned to her and gave her a deadpan stare. “I have to wake up at 6 AM to go to school until 2 PM. Then I go to WORK until 7 PM. Then I have to take care of the kids, do my homework and then, if I’m LUCKY, I can get to bed by 1. Then I have to wake up at 6 again the next day.” He twitched before he refilled his cup, never breaking eye contact with that woman. He brought the cup up to his lips and sipped loudly. "I'll drink this AAALLL I want." The woman gasped offended and Abi grinned widely. Oh Pines and their sassiness…

They then waited for their turn, drinking coffee and eating some cookies. Abi looked around. The twins said they had a little friend, but she didn’t know who his parents were. One by one, the other couples exited the classroom and left, leaving a few other parents and the teens. Shermie was getting impatient. He wanted to go home now! He knew the twins behaved and had good grades. What. Else?!

A mother sat down next to the teens and smiled. “She’s taking her life in there, huh?” Abi looked up at her and nodded. The woman leaned closer. “To be honest, those parents who just entered are the parents of a really annoying girl, she fights others and think everyone works for her...I’ve known them since babies, my daughter went to daycare with her as babies…her parents are no better.” She nodded. “They're entitled and horrible. The man who told you to shut up earlier is that naughty girl’s father.”

They talked for a bit more when finally, the young couple were called in. Shermie and Abi threw their cups away, waved at the nice mom, and entered the classroom again. The teacher smiled at them. "Well...Hello, um…” She trailed off, she didn't even ask for their names before! The teens smiled. “I’m Abigail, he’s Sherman.” The woman nodded and checked her papers. “Well, Mabel and Mason are doing really well. Mason works dutifully and Mabel always volunteers to give the class an example of the activity. They’re pretty sweet kids and they’re very obedient."

She handed them their report cards. Mabel's was full of B+ in the activities, like cutting straight lines, or recognizing the shapes and colors, and Mason had full A's, except in cutting. It made Abi coo.

The teens smiled proudly. Those were their babies~

“Though, Mason is still a bit shy, and he doesn’t want to work with anyone but his sister...I’ve been trying to pair him with other boys, but he doesn’t like it.”

"Oh. Well yes...Mason is a very reserved child." Abi squirmed. "It's not wrong, but if you could help him socialize more, it would be better." The teacher told them. The teens nodded, hiding a yawn behind their hands. God they were tired.

"Also, despite the fact that Mabel is nice to everyone, sometimes she fights with other girls, um, the parents of this girl said her daughter came home bruised." The teacher winced. Abi gasped. “What? Mabel? Well, I know she doesn’t always pay attention to what she hits when she flails around, but I’ve never seen her hurt anyone before!”

"Have you seen Mabel hitting her?" Shermie asked the teacher with a raised eyebrow. The woman winced a bit. "Well, I've seen her playing roughly, but never hitting on purpose. The girl told her parents it was Mabel."

Abi and Shermie shared a look. "We'll talk to her, but we still don't think Mabel was hitting on purpose. But if she is playing too roughly, we will let her know that she shouldn’t do that."

The teacher nodded, relieved that these parents were at least going to talk to their kid about it. She’s had to deal with other parents who refuse to believe their child could be anything but perfect and refused to even listen to the complaints. She adjusted her glasses and got to the next point she wanted to talk to the Pines about. “While the twins are doing very well in their class, they don’t pronounce words as well as the others. Mabel’s handwriting is also very hard to make out.”

The teens wiggled. "The kids are just 3...Isn't that, like, normal?" The teacher waved her hand in a 'more or less' gesture. "She needs to improve, there are books you can buy her where she can practice her calligraphy."

Abi and Shermie simply nodded.

After an awkward moment of the teacher presenting them some papers and asking "Can you sign yet?" And Shermie answering "Abi is 18, I'm still 17.",  Abi's mom picked them up. She had a good laugh when Abi told her they were mistaken for the older siblings.

 "Look at the bright side, everyone will always think you look amazingly young!" They didn't mention the other things they were told, they were worried as it was.

They went to the twins room, they had beds now, and found them sleeping, Dipper was upside down, hugging his plushie and Mabel was drowning in her plushies (half of her collection was actually Dipper’s, he didn’t mind, he didn’t need that many). Abi freed Mabel from the plushie pile and Shermie carefully tucked Dipper in. It was amazing how they were toddlers now, they could finally sleep all night long, aside from those "Mommy, daddy, wateh pwease!" interruptions.

"Goodnight, babies…" They went to their room to finish that chemistry homework they had. Both groaned but didn't complain aloud. The babies were worth the effort, they'd go to more parent teacher meetings for them.

Most of the problems could be solved. They asked Abi's mom to take Mason and Mabel to the park to socialize more, they found the books for Mabel, but when they asked about the hitting problem, the little girl shrugged. "She poking Dippe's fowehead and only I can do that but I not hit, just push, but I didn' huwt or make heh fall."

The argument that came after with the other parents was so bad, two grown up adults shouting at the teacher and the scared teens about how they were lying brats and should be expelled for harassing her daughter, that Abi's parents had to get involved because the teens were getting eaten alive by the angry older parents.

They didn't like this, they should be doing fun things now, like teens their age, not fighting with some crazy dicks over Mabel apparently bullying her daughter which wasn't true at all! Mabel was the sweetest baby! Mabel at some point cried at the accusations, which made Mason cry in distress too, and Shermie wanted to see blood spill after that.

They eventually solved this, luckily, and proved that family was just lying! One of the teacher’s assistants told them that she saw the other girl poking Mason’s head even when he asked her to “Pwease stop!” and that Mabel had been defending her brother. It was all very stressful for the teen parents, but...it felt nice to know they were in the right, and that they managed to get their revenge for making their precious adorable babies cry.

\--.--

It took so long, but they were finally graduating high school, after what felt like an eternity. Shermie saw his favorite big brother again (who cried during the entire ceremony) and they celebrated with pizza, which the twins loved.

They had been thinking and they needed to study. They couldn't work as a cashier or waiter forever. College was too expensive and long, but going to an institute might be the best option. From there, they could take courses and essentially get the training they needed for their career without the whole college experience. Abi wanted to go into nursing. Shermie was going for programming. With technology and the internet becoming more important, many companies needed people who knew how to code. Shermie would be able to get a better job that paid more than just minimum wage. Abi had always wanted to go into the medical field, and she was glad she would be able to be part of it.

"You'll do great, kiddo." Seb had told Shermie when he called to tell him the news. "Now your in laws will be stuck with babysitting." Shermie laughed, "Don't think so. Abi's mom is glad to be with them but as soon as we step a foot inside the house, the twins are our responsibility, tons of homework or not."

"Well, the kids are lovely, Mabel gave me a delicious imaginary cookie!" Shermie snickered at that. "-I don't think they give you much trouble anymore?" Seb had pointed out. Shermie laughed. They did, they were curious about everything but...he liked being with them and teaching them stuff, he loved their awed faces when he did a magic trick or when they told him about the latest episode of Save-Ums.  "I love them, Seb…"

If high school was hard, the institute was way worse. They had even more things to do and they still had their responsibilities at home. People didn't judge as much as in high school though, they always said they were brave for having the kids and raising them. They said they admired them. Shermie even met a few other young parents. Of course, they had their kids after high school, but it was nice to be able to trade tips and tricks with them.

Shermie was up long hours into the night studying. He couldn’t rely on Abi’s parents forever. He needed to get a good paying job, he needed to do what he could to care for his children. Shermie only realized he fell asleep on his desk when Mabel and Dipper woke him up by throwing a blanket over him. When he jolted awake, Dipper had said “Sowwy, we dot you woked cold.” Shermie stared down at his kids and… he just… loved them so much. He knelt down to hug the two of them. “Thanks, but shouldn’t you two be in bed?” Shermie tried to hold back his tears, didn’t want to give the kids the wrong idea. Mabel pouted. “But you be’in bed too!”

Shermie laughed. “Alright, you got me there. Let’s all go to bed.” He carried his giggling children back to their room and passed out, draped over Mabel’s bed, using half her blankets. He had to admit this was pretty nice, they were like hot water bottles. And he had it relatively easier than Abi, medicine sucked and she had a lot of things to read and memorize.

But. Not everything was hardships and struggle. The good thing about being parents is that they could dress up their kids however they wanted and no one could say anything! Every holiday, Abi's family joined together and the girl enjoyed presenting her baby boy with the lamb costume Seb designed for Mason when he was a baby. Every year he got a new one for his moment to _shine_!

Everyone squealed over how adorable he looked in his lamby costume~ Shermie loved his presentations, they're were so funny. He took photos, he would keep them for posterity and mock Dip-Mason when he was older. Damn it, the nickname was catchy. They could also dress the twins up in paired costumes for Halloween! The best part of that was how Shermie could keep a portion of the twin’s haul for himself! FREE CANDY!

Well, at least until the twins realized their father was taxing them for taking them trick or treating. Abi scolded him when he did that, but she didn't complain when she ate the candy with him...What a little hypocrite~

\---.---

"Daddy, can we go to the park?" Mabel pulled his sleeve as he worked on writing the programming codes he had to learn. "Tell mom to take you." Was Shermie's response.

Dipper and Mabel whined. The nickname already stuck. They were 5, and their speech problem had been fixed. The extra help was paid for as a gift from Abi's parents. Shermie loved them so much~ "She said to not bother her and let her sleep."

"Well, I need to finish studying, I've got an important exam, do you want me to graduate and get a job?" Mabel pulled her ponytail. "But you grade-ated."

"From high school." Shermie rolled his eyes and went back to studying. "But we really want to play…" Dipper pulled his sleeve.

"Dipper, not now!" Shermie sighed. “Look, if you give me a few hours of quiet so I can finish this assignment, we can go to the park for a little bit.” Shermie tried to negotiate. Mabel looked impatient but Dipper nodded and pulled on his sister’s hand. “Come on, Mabel. We can go play with your dolls.”

"I love to play with my dolls! We can make a tea party too!" The twins ran away and the young man smiled a bit. Kids… He focused even harder on his work now, he had to finish this to take his babies to the park, they were so excited to go and they deserved it...

Shermie would love to procrastinate all day and relax...Call some friends and go out with them and Abi to have lunch or some drinks, he only had to finish this and he could be free for the day like everybody else his age...but he couldn't…He had to finish and take care of the twins, he wasn't like everyone his age; he had two little kids who depended on him to finish and take them to the park to have fun and DAMN was he taking them to the park!

After a few hours, he finished and the twins jumped on his back to be carried. ""Paarrkk!"" Shermie laughed and made horse noises. "Let's gooo! Neeighh!"

As Shermie dramatically pushed the twins' swings making 'whoosh' sounds,  Mabel squealed. "You're the bestest daddy in the whole worrlldd!!"

Dipper's swing hit the young man's stomach and after a grunt, Shermie looked at Mabel with wide green eyes. "You...you really think so? I-I bet there are others who're better…" ...others who were older and more capable of caring for them...

"Nopey! You are the very best! You and mommy! Because you do evewything for us and granny says you're very responsible and you buy us ice cream!" Mabel giggled as she kicked her legs.

"And you always plays with us even when you have homework. Doing homework is vewy important." Dipper supplied, kicking his legs awkwardly to try to swing himself, but failing. The little boy looked up. "And you study a lot because you're smart like mommy, she knows all about the body and you know everything about computews."

“O-Oh…” Shermie licked his lips and stayed silent. He...really didn’t know what to say to the kids. Did-Did they really think he was smart and the-the best...the best dad?

He wanted to punch something, like a tree, his emotions were a mess and he just...just...He ended up hugging the twins, ignoring their complains as he crushed them. “You are also the bestest kids in the world, even when you drive me insane…” Shermie sniffled and Mabel and Dipper giggled.

“Can we get icecweam?”  


“...Ok…”

\---.---

It took a little longer than expected, but Mabel and Dipper proudly showed off at school when they were in 1st grade that they were moving to a new house. It was small, but it was amazing for them. Shermie and Abi had finally being able to move to a house of their own and the twins were young, but they understood their parents were awfully proud, so they were proud too. They'd miss Granny and Grandpa though.

Shermie and Abi hugged and thanked their parents for all the help they received from them, even for the house. The young woman was clinging to her dad as Shermie sobbed over his in-laws. He loved them so much! "Thank you! Thank you! I don't know what we'd have done without you!"

"Probably nothin'." The older man chuckled and patted his back. "You're welcome, son."

Shermie excitedly called his older brother to visit him. He had a new house! They worked hard for it! He wanted Seb to see it! But Seb said he was too busy...He hadn't seen his niblings in years either. He knew Seb kept in touch with Carla and her kid...The twins didn't know about their cousin, it was...sad for Shermie to think about Ford and Lee…

Well, didn't matter, he knew Seb still loved him and the twins no matter the distance! Besides, his mom visited from time to time to tell him how proud she was of him...and that was always nice…

His mother-in law still babysat the twins for them, but of course life was much easier now that he had a car and could actually drive and move around on his own. Shermie and Abi had stable jobs, most of their friends were just finishing college, and the young couple worked to fit as many courses as they could take and pay into their packed schedule. They wanted to be better, to improve, to learn and study and be someone for their children who were not babies anymore, but curious and beautiful kids.

Mabel was just like him, a free spirit, crazy, strong, loved unicorns and bright colors, Dipper was more quiet, he got allergies more easily than his sister (Though both their allergies act up around the same time) and he loved reading big books. He was a nerd like his mom~ Shermie usually repeated that when he teased his son, but Dipper didn't seem to know what nerd meant yet. Good, he would surely get annoyed once he knew.

The twins usually didn't get in trouble, but there were times they seemed to want to give their parents heart attacks at the young age of 23. Like when they were in 2nd grade. It was photo day, October was making itself present by making it colder every day. Abi wrapped Dipper in a very warm jacket because he was sick, "Mommy will give you allergy syrup~" "...The one that tastes like strawberry?" "That one, yes." as Shermie finished combing Mabel's hair. He had years of practice and he finally did a decent job. "Pigtails done!"

"I love them!!" Mabel squealed and hugged her dad. "Come on, Dipper! We'll be Late!" She grabbed his wrist and pulled him away.

The parents expected a nice photo from them, but they only got two half shaved kids when they came back home. ""AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"" "What have you DONE?!!!!" Where the fuck did they even find a Goddamn shaver?!

Watching Mabel and Dipper grow up was an adventure of its own. They were their children, and did everything they could to make them happy. They continued having courses at night, improving themselves just for them, to get better jobs, and get paid better so they could give them some nice stuff here and there.

They bought Mabel a huge knitting kit when she asked, and she absolutely loved it, she spent hours practicing and making lots of colorful scarves. They bought Dipper the collection of books he always wanted and the two always felt warm in their hearts when they saw their little boy curled up on a pillow, reading and chewing a pen.

They were very curious kids though, with a lot of imagination, and they weren't afraid to lay down on the mud to look at bugs or insects. Or play in the rain, jumping on water puddles without proper boots, just their sneakers. They had left Abi's side many times when they went shopping and the poor woman panicked every time until she found them hiding in the clothes stacks, or trying to get cereal from high shelves, or on the other hand, scared because they couldn't find her, thought they would be lost forever and started crying for her in a corner, with a loud "MOOMMMMYYY!!!!!!"

Shermie and Abigail were proud of their little twins, how close they were. Mabel always defended Dipper when kids laughed at his adorable birthmark, and Dipper was always nice and patient with his wild twin, played with her and cured her scratches with a band aid and a kiss.

But they'll never forget when Dipper was 11 and he burnt down the curtains and the couch. Apparently, he had drawn a freaking PENTAGRAM with chalk and the candles he put on the floor to summon a GHOST, and Mabel had been helpfully recording everything, because they needed to see any supernatural events.

Of course the twins were grounded.

That same year, Abi claimed she needed a break from parenting and Shermie suggested traveling. They started saving up for it and planned a nice trip for summer of next year. However they needed to know who would watch the kids.

"I can call Seb!" Shermie smiled, but Abi wasn't sure. "They haven't seen each other for years...Are you sure he'd want to do this? My mom said they can take care of the twins." They deserved this trip, and her mom recognized they had been doing great! She even supported them going on this trip, the twins were 12 now, more than old enough to be away from their parents for a while without issue.

The young man nodded eagerly. "Don't bother your ma, it will be a great time for them to catch up! I'll call Seb immediately."

 Of course Shermie forgot to call for weeks and only remembered to tell Seb he had sent his precious bundles of joy his way when he was about to board the plane.

"Plleaaasseeeeee!"

"Ugh...Ok…"

Seb obviously accepted! Just like Shermie knew he would! Because he was the best big brother ever! Abi rolled her eyes at him. They almost missed their plane because of his stupidity…

They had the time of their lives there. They were young and wanted to explore. They had cheap accommodations but they enjoyed every second of it. They had fun whenever the hotel staff, tour guides or whoever asked if they were married. Shermie and Abi would laugh and say yes, have been for 13 years. The people were always surprised because of how young they were. The best part was when people asked if they had kids. They all cooed and said it must have been hard leaving their babies behind. Shermie always said "It was hard, we miss them every day, but they're almost 13 now, they need to grow up."

Their faces were _priceless_.

Despite how much fun the couple had on their own, they missed their kids so, so much. They hugged them tight when they saw them at the bus station waiting for them, and they all had a good laugh when they realized the twins were also tanned from their outdoors adventures, just like their parents.

Their greatest proof of love was Waddles. Shermie reluctantly agreed to keep the pig despite how he explicitly said he didn't want pets in the house (though he should have suspected this would happen, what with how much Mabel loved her grandparents' pet cat). But Mabel clearly loved that animal. She even showed him a creepy sweater she knitted for her pig with her face on it, and he ended up agreeing to let her keep it.

Just because Mabel was his princess.

Dipper was loudly jabbering on and on as he shoved a book with a pine tree on it towards Abi. "Mom! Mom! You HAVE to read what I learned this summer! I have a journal now! Uncle FfffffSebastian helped me make one!"

The young parents rolled their eyes fondly.

Shermie blinked out of his reminiscence.

Now the twins were almost 15...It's been two years since the twins came home babbling about monsters, two years since Shermie's older brothers returned from the dead. Two years since his family reunited once and forever more. Lots of things have changed, but a lot remained the same. Shermie and Abi Pines would still kill for their kids, whether they were 5 or 50.

Many have judged them in their past, and criticized them for even wanting to keep the babies instead of putting them up for adoption. It could have been an option, but they didn't want to. Many ignored how stupidly brave those two 15 year old idiots were, not only to be teenage parents, but parents of twins at an age where they should have been complaining about cleaning their rooms.

They sucked up and ignored the whispers, insults and mocking because they were determined to **_be_ ** someone for their kids, because they loved them, because caring for their children was more important than being called irresponsible, whore, fuckboy, stupid...

Those precious children were worth the sacrifices.

//-//-//

Abi rubbed her eyes and yawned loudly when the sound of her ringing phone woke her up. Shermie was still passed out, making a very good pillow. The woman reached for her phone on the table and first saw the hour. It was 7 pm, they had napped for a while and were still sleepy. Her eyes widened when she realized it was a missed call from Mabel.

She called her daughter back and Mabel picked up. “Hi, mommy!”  “Hi, sweetie, sorry, we fell asleep? Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, we're at our friend’s house, but her mom’s car broke down and we need a ride home, she can’t take us anymore.” Shermie rubbed his eyes and blinked at Abi when she nodded. “Ok sweetie, send me your location and we’ll pick you up.” Abi hung up and poked Shermie’s sleepy face. “Hey, honey, we gotta pick the twins up from their friend’s house.”

Shermie yawned and rubbed his eyes. “I’m hungry though…” “We can go eat out.” “Pizza?” “Pizza.” 

The twins asked if they could give another friend a lift home and the young parents agreed. After saying bye to their friend, Shermie asked the twins if they had dinner yet. “No...can we get pizza?” Mabel smiled and Shermie laughed loudly. “That’s MY daughter!!”

They all went to Pizza Hot and the four happily munched on their pizza as the twins told them about the great movie they watched and how much fun they had. “And-And then my friend stood up and all the popcorn spilled and we were laughing so, so much! And a friend almost pissed herself and I was choking with popcorn!” were only a few of the many things Mabel told them. Their parents smiled at them lovingly.

“So, we’ll tell your uncles to get ready to go to Gravity Falls?” “Yes!” “I’m SO going to show you the monsters THIS time!!” Dipper waved a breadsticks at Shermie, who rolled his eyes. Ok. Fine.

Abigail giggled and ran a hand through Mabel’s hair (used to it having glitter). “We love you, you know that?” Abigail smiled. Mabel slurped her cheese and grinned widely. “We know, mom~ We’re amazing!” She nudged Dipper as he sipped his soda. The boy laughed. “We love you too, mom, dad.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------.------------

Drawing of Shermie growing up. From adorable baby to rebel to a great dad!  
  


Enjoy my backgroundless drawing, too lazy

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mizuuma: Awwww, poor Shermie and Abi went through so much~  
> Blue: >:)  
> Leave your comments! We love reading them! See ya next chapter!


	8. Chapter 7: Ci-Cipher’s back!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello new chapter! we hope you suff-I mean, like it!

"No! No! Let me go! Don't do it! Please!" Seb sobbed as the bullies dragged him across the empty hallway. "Aaawww! The cyclops gonna cry! Look at the poor little girl!"

They pulled off his eyepatch and threw it away and used duct tape to force his eye open. "Now everyone can see how ugly you are! Disgusting!" They finally came to stop at a closet.

Seb sobbed loudly, pleading for someone (ANYONE) to see and come help him. But why would they? He didn't deserve it, he was just a bother, he wasn't worth it…As they tied his hands and feet together, the boy saw a glimpse of hope. "Ford! Ford help me! Do something!" The teen sobbed.

The teen with glasses remained still as the laughing bullies covered Sebastian's mouth with duct tape. "This way is better, Sebastian…" Ford put his hands behind his back. "Monsters like you deserve to be locked up…" They were now placing duct tape over his eyes. Before the piece of duct tape left him blind, Sebastian saw Stanford grin. "Oh, don't worry, I'll take care of your kids, make sure they're fixed."

Seb only screamed as he was left blind and thrown inside the closet. His daughters, his daughters were going to-! He needed to-he had to! His cries were muffled by the duct tape. Zoe! Zully! Ford was going to do something to them-!

'You've always been so useless, Sebastian...Pathetic, garbage, filth...Thinking you could get rid of me~ You don't deserve it, you're a demon, a monster, can't protect your kids, piece of shit.

Leave me alone! You were gone! You can't hurt me anymore! You're GONE! I'm not a monster! Seb tried holding his head but his hands were tied. He banged his head against the closet door instead.

'You'll always be Bill Cipher. That's why your brother doesn't trust you, that's why he wants to fix the broken children you created! Aren't you ashamed?! Creating monsters like YOU?! You are so selfish! Disgusting! Why didn't you stay DEAD!? Everyone would have been better without you!' A very familiar voice grew louder and louder with each word.

"Hahahahaha!" Seb blindly looked up in the darkness, but he could feel the horrible brightness emanating from behind his forcefully closed eyelids. "You didn't think you got rid of ME so easily, DID YOU CORNCHIP?!" The shrill voice guffawed as Seb screamed, utterly terrified. No, Bill was dead, he should be dead! Seb killed him!

"I want what's MINE! YOU PROMISED ME YOUR BODY! And if I'm not getting it! ...Dear Fordsie still can get me two very nice new meatsacks to use~"

"NO! Don't touch them! No! No no no!" Seb screamed. This couldn't be happen, it couldn't-

"Gasp!" Seb thrashed around in bed before he fell over the side, crying out as he hit the ground. Wanda was up with a jolt, looking around to see what was wrong. "Seb?! Seb, are you ok?!" She got out of bed and ran over to Seb who was curled up on the floor, crying his eye out. "Baby, it's ok, I promise, it was a nightmare, you're here, you're at home Seb, everything is ok…"

"Cl-Clos...closet…trapped…" He whispered in a terrified little voice. "No, you're not trapped, you're in your room, we were sleeping remember? It wasn't real, not real…" Wanda held Seb's head as he cried. He didn't know what was real, he didn't want to hear Bill2 ever again, please, make it not real, he couldn't take it anymore, he couldn't!

"G-Girls…Wh-Where…" Wanda kissed his cheek. "They're in their room, sleeping, they're safe." Linda warned Wanda that healing was a long process, Seb could be fine for months or it could even be years, until he had a horrible breakdown, seemingly going back from his progress. "But all of that is part of his healing process, Wanda, a bad moment doesn't mean he's not healing, he is. You just have to be there for him at every moment."

Wanda got really worried for Seb, but she knew Linda was right. Besides, Seb might be deeply terrified at the moment and confused, but he was not having an actual panic attack and she was grateful for that. Wanda helped Seb stand and they walked to the kid's room. Seb watched the sleeping babies in their crib, Zoe kicking her leg and Zully snuggling next to her clutching a yellow baby blanket. He relaxed a little. "T-they're okay?" He whispered.

"Yes. They're fine." Wanda held him close. "They're safe. It was just a nightmare." Seb trembled a little but finally calmed down. "I was so scared." He admitted. Wanda kissed his cheek and led him back to bed. "Do you want to talk about it?" Seb curled up next to her, his head hidden between her arm and breast. "I'm scared…"

"I know…" Wanda kissed his forehead.

"I-I don't want the kids to be in danger...be-because of me…" "They won't." "Bill is going to hurt them…".

Wanda had to stop with that. Bill? The triangle man thing? But...Seb said he was dead. His brothers said he was dead, heck the kids said he was dead too! Seb almost died killing him!

"He can't. You were the world's hero and killed him."

"He will be back, he will, Wanda! And Ford is going to give them to him!" Seb was ugly crying. His argument with his brother was still fresh in his mind, despite having been weeks already. The kids could be monsters, and Bill wanted them as well to get his powers back! He still didn't get why Ford would do that, no one understood their subconscious, but he felt his brother didn't love him, that he didn't trust him, it was logical in his mind that Ford would do that to hurt him.

Wanda frowned.

Miles away from them, Stan groaned loudly when his phone rang, startling him, Carla and little Diego who slept in his crib in the room with them. "What?!" He asked the other person moodily. Dammit Diego was crying now...

"Help me. Seb is feeling really bad…"

Stan jolted. Again? He sighed and went to the bathroom so the conversation wouldn't bother his wife and kid. Carla was busy rocking Diego and feeding him so he wouldn't be needed for now.

"He had another attack?" "No, luckily no...But-But he's been having nightmares since he came back from Stanford's house…"

Stan groaned. Dammit Ford! What did he do this time?! There must be something here. They had been getting along well. Something must have happened. "I'm gonna have a talk with Ford. See what he's done this time."

"Thank you…" Wanda sniffled. "I can't make him go to sleep…" Stan rubbed his eyes. "Well...When we were kids I scratched his head, like, er, scalp massage, he likes that…" He usually did that when Seb came into their room, trembling and scared from a nightmare or a scary sound he heard.

Wanda nodded. Sebastian did enjoy his cuddles. "Alright, I'll go try that. Sorry for bothering you so late." Stan laughed. "It's fine. You're taking care of my little brother, that's more than enough for me to forgive you for wakin' me up at night."

The blonde smiled tiredly and hung up. She went to the kitchen to make some warm chamomile and Seb drank it slowly. "...It doesn't have sugar…" Seb whined. Wanda deadpanned as she sat down next to him. "This is for you to sleep, not wake up more." The brunet pouted a bit more but finished his drink before hugging Wanda close to himself. Wanda wiggled so she could be the one hugging him. Perks of being almost the same height.

She stroked his curls, rubbing his scalp like Stan said and she could see him visibly relax. "...Sebas...You-You know that sometimes…family is not always good to you, right?" Seb nodded with his eye closed. "...If you feel...maybe, that some other family member makes you feel bad, then you have no obligation to bear with them, ok?" Wanda whispered. She thought Ford was kinda cute as a kid, but he had always been a bratty, selfish and self-centered kid. (She always felt like he thought he was better than everyone else just because he was a genius.) She didn't like how he talked about Seb when he was kicked out of his home. If he wasn't a great brother like Stanley was, the brother Seb needed right now, she saw no reason Seb had to tolerate Ford's attitude towards him.

Seb bit his lip. "It's fine. Sixer and I are…" he sighed. No. Linda had told him that lying about how he felt wasn't healthy. "No, he-" Seb trembled. "He told me the kids had to be fixed. Like there was something wrong with them, since they had… demon powers."

Wanda gasped. "But...YOU have powers...it makes sense they have powers too." Wanda whispered, without stopping stroking his hair. "He-If they were demons-" Seb sniffled loudly. "Like like he said! I-I'd still love them! So, so, so, so much!" Seb let out a broken sob. "I wouldn't hurt them! They-they're my daughters now! Nothing else! I wouldn't-I wouldn't hurt them! I'm not like Filbrick!" Wanda's green eyes welled up with tears as well.

"And-And I'm NOT going to let ANYONE touch them!" He growled. "I'd kill whoever tries to harm them if it's necessary, even FORD!" Wanda held him, whispering a soft "Shh, shh~". He couldn't think of murder, she didn't want that. Eventually, Seb passed out, completely drained out, but the blonde still had trouble succumbing to sleep.

Stanford better get his shit together. She didn't care if he was her (future) brother in law and Seb absolutely loved him blindly, if he dared to hurt Seb again or bad talk about HER daughters, he'd have more to worry about than just some silly demons.

-.-

Shermie called to tell them they had to go to Gravity Falls to greet the twins and Dillon for their birthday. "And mine!" He added. His birthday was also in July and many liked to forget that.

"Are you feeling up to going?" Wanda asked, worried. Seb rolled his eye. "I'm not a baby, Wands~ I'll be fine…I didn't have a panic attack last time did I?" He grinned down at Wanda, who narrowed her eyes. "That doesn't change anything. I worry about yo-" She stopped when Seb pressed his lips against hers, effectively shutting her up. "I'll be fine~" he insisted. "It's nice that you care but I can handle this. Please?" He gave her a puppy dog look and Wanda sighed. "Alright."

Of course Seb was adamant to go. He didn't want to see his triplet so soon, not after how much he was hurt by his words (He was being mean though, Ford apologized, he was just been selfish), but...he wasn't going for Ford, he was going there for his little brother and niblings. He was visiting THEM and celebrating for them! He could ignore Stanford.

Just like he did for almost an entire month.

Zully and Zoe found themselves ONCE AGAIN trapped in a seat with mommy and daddy. Why were they here again?! They always appeared in that house with the yard and trees after coming out, Isher's house. But why didn't they just sit in their carseat like they did when going to the supermarket or grandparents' house with daddy and be done with it? What was different from sitting in this place?

Zoe wiggled impatiently in Seb's lap. They had earplugs now, so their little sensitive ears didn't pop. Now that she was pain free and couldn't busy herself crying, she was very bored. "Bah! Ah bah bahh Blaaa! buuH!" She babbled loudly, trying to reach the window. The man sitting in the window's seat looked at the couple with a frown.

Zully was simply resting their head on mommy's soft chest and suckling their pacifier The baby side-glanced at daddy trying to keep Zoe from crawling over that man and let out a soft sigh. Silly daddy. Zoe couldn't be stopped~ Like when she escaped from their crib. Zully had been scared and squealed loudly to indicate they thought it was scary so Zoe should feel the same, but Zoe didn't. She wasn't afraid of ANYTHING.

"Urgh! You know what?" The man exclaimed, tired of Zoe's little hands pulling at his shirt to try to get to the window, before standing up and glaring at Seb and Wanda. "Change. I didn't even want the window anyway." He grumbled. Wanda smiled gratefully at him and they moved a seat to the right. Seb to the window, Wanda in the middle and the man in the hallway seat. Zoe gasped in awe as she stared out of the window. Pretty! She wanted to grab the white fluffy things!

Wanda ended up having a blast with the man, who was apparently from her college a couple years older. Seb felt ignored, and then very offended when Zully needed a new diaper and Wanda sent him off. "Why me?!" He complained. He huffed and went with the blond baby to the bathroom, gently rocking them when they started whimpering. "I know, sweetheart, I'll clean you up in a second." He whispered lovingly and kissed their round cheek.

Even if he hated changing diapers, his time wearing diapers was one of the WORST years in his life (and he had been beaten up to pulp with a belt in the back and face, so that was saying A LOT). He felt dirty and pathetic, he wouldn't put the twins through that.

Seb laid down the baby on the changing table and strapped Zully to it, wouldn't want them to fall! "Alright, let's clean that dirty butt~" He laughed. Zully gurgled happily. Zully watched their dad make funny faces as he changed their diaper. The baby blinked, opened and closed their hands when they started warming up. Seb had just finished putting the last tab in place when his baby's hand caught on fire. Seb frowned, but didn't have much time to dwell on it when he noticed Zully holding a corner of their blanket.

And then the smoke detector went off.

Everyone in the plane jumped at the sudden loud noise and Wanda facepalmed when she saw the flight attendants running towards the bathroom with fire extinguishers. What happened this time?!

Seb had frantically managed to put out the fire in time, absorbing the fire, so the women were only just confused when they saw the man's eye glow blue for a second before going back to normal.

"Are you ok? How did the alarm go off, sir?" A male flight attendant asked suspiciously. Seb blushed a dark red, especially when he realized he was being stared at. "I-I have no idea, it just happened."

"Do you know it is illegal to smoke on a plane?" One of them said sternly.

"I don't smoke." Seb groaned. He picked up Zully, who had started crying at the loud noise and rushed to his seat.

Wanda gave him a questioning look as he winced in his seat. The crew started examining the bathroom for some cigarette trace because the man wasn't caught in the act, and later asked to examine their hand luggage. Nothing, no cigarettes or lighters, just baby formula, diapers, baby clothes, wallets, keys and cell phones.

"We're sorry for the inconvenience." A flight attendant smiled sheepishly. They finally figured it might have been some sort of malfunction of the sensor from the baby powder or something and apologized to the father for suspecting him. Wanda looked at Seb and shook her head fondly. She didn't blame Seb though, she knew the babies' powers were unpredictable. Zoe and Zully were peacefully sleeping in their arms, allowing them to nap in peace until landing.

-.-

"Yay! You're finally heeree!" Mabel roared as she ran towards her youngest uncle. Seb cried as he was thrown back at the force of the now soon to be 15 year old Mabel's tackle, but luckily didn't fall since he was carrying Zoe on his chest. "Woah! Shooting Star!" Seb shouted with laughter.

Waddles ran around Seb, oinking loudly, very happy to see the man again. "Can't believe it! He likes you more than me! And I feed and clean this pig every day!" Shermie exclaimed from the house.

Seb laughed loudly and freed Zoe for her to crawl and walk around as Wanda did the same for Zully. Then, he hugged his little brother. "Well, I saved him from being a pterodactyl's snack~ Of course he loves me~ Everyone loves me!" Seb smiled widely. Linda said he was amazing…~

Shermie rolled his eyes.

Dillon came out of the house with Dipper (those two had become very good friends, Seb was glad; he liked seeing his two oldest nephews getting along), and the two teens rushed outside to meet him. "Hey Uncle Seb!" The two smiled.

Dillon was wearing a green sleeveless shirt with black shorts while Dipper had a short sleeved blue shirt and grey shorts, still wearing the hat Wendy gave him that first year. Mabel was as colorful as ever, with a pink long sleeved crop top, a light purple top and jean shorts. She was wearing bright earrings and a bright blue hairband. Her sneakers glowed too. Of course.

"Hey~ How's my favorite nephew!?" Seb opened his arms wide and grinned like the demon he was. He just loved seeing the world burn. Dipper and Dillon shared a look, Shermie crossed his arms unimpressed, before the two started pushing at each other to get to the man first. "MOVE IT!" "He knew me first!" "We FOUGHT a DEMON!" "He's MY godfather!" "AAHHH!"

"Mwahahaha! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Seb cheered on the teens. Mabel picked up Zully when they were distracted and was now carrying the annoyed baby in her arms as she giggled at her brother and cousin. "Look at them battle for the title of favorite nephew, right Uncle Seb?" Mabel asked smugly. She would never lose her title as favorite niece~ She was the only girl! Hah! Unless Uncle Ford had kids but that wasn't happening in a million years!

"Hey~~~ You are TOTALLY right, Shooting Star!" Seb pointed at her. "You should suck-up to me to choose my favorite nephew!" Wanda shrugged helplessly when Shermie sent her a weird look. "What do you want me to do?" She asked with a deadpan look.

"What? We are not going to suck-up to you for-" Dipper deadpanned but Dillon grinned widely. "Yes we are~!" Dipper gasped. NO! This was the key day all over again!

Seb tutted at Dipper. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, you really haven't learnt anything, have you, Pinetree~ Dillon is winning!" Dillon stuck his tongue out at his younger cousin.

"Ok, we are going to suck up to you…" Dipper grumbled. Seb laughed. "Hey, I am feeling quite thirsty, I wonder if my favorite nephew could make me some lemonade…" The teens rushed inside, screaming and punching each other to get to the kitchen first. "MOVE!" " MOVE FIRST!"

Shermie shook his head as Wanda couldn't help but giggle. She knew Seb was just messing around with the two kids, he loved them both the same. "You are an evil man, making my baby suffer." Shermie told his brother with narrowed green eyes. Seb winked at him. "We all know my favorite is Diego~" He joked with laughter before running inside. Shermie huffed and picked up Zoe who was walking away, all while Mabel laughed loudly. "Come on, sweetheart, who has a very mean dad~? You? It's you~" Shermie cooed at Zoe, gave her a kiss which made her squeal, and walked inside with Mabel and Wanda.

Seb stopped dead in his tracks when on his way to the kitchen, he stumbled upon Stanford. Seb had been hoping to avoid him during these weeks...but he had forgotten this was in fact, his house.

Ford, for his part, gave Seb a polite nod before walking away, unsure how to broach the topic. He had done many more examinations on what little DNA samples he had from his nieces and still had inconclusive results. The Weirdness from Zully and Zoe were a different color but it was still similar to Seb's. Zully's Weirdness was… actually MORE similar to Seb's than Zoe's was and that didn't make any sense at all. Unless it was just proof that Zully was in fact Bill Cipher...

Ford was getting nightmares about it. Little Zully's eyes glowing yellow as she laughed in that horrible voice as Bill returned through her… Ford sighed. If Sebastian would just… let him perform his in depth examination then he could finally get some peace of mind.

Seb watched his oldest brother walk away and slowly relaxed. Well. This was going to suck. Maybe he should just avoid Ford for the duration of their stay.

He talked to Linda about it and she told him that it wasn't right for his brother to treat him like a monster, or act as if the babies were wrong in some way. "Either you two can talk this out between yourselves, or, if being around him stresses you out, get some space between you two. At least for a while." Linda had told him. She was quite worried but was also beginning to think that perhaps Seb's oldest brother took after their father in some way.

If Filbrick had called Sebastian a demon all their lives, it made sense that his brothers might have unfortunately internalized this toxic mentality as well.

Frankly, from what Linda was learning about Sebastian's childhood, it was a miracle that Sebastian had grown up to be such a gentle, sweet man.

In truth, Linda told Seb that ignoring the issues between him and his brother wasn't healthy, but when Seb refused to address it, she knew that perhaps making Seb keep his distance would allow him some time to calm down and think about it some more.

Seb sighed, leaning against the refrigerator. It wasn't fair. Why was Sixer always such a…

The boys rushed up to him, having missed the confrontation with Ford, and presented their lemonades to him. Seb genuinely smiled. He didn't have to be sad. Even if Ford and he were...in a kinda rough moment, it didn't mean he didn't have the rest of his family with him.

"What do you think?!" "You like my lemonade more?!" "No! Mine!" "Who wins?"

"Ooh~ Are you making drinks~?" Stan entered the kitchen with a smile, carrying Diego who was suckling on his bottle. Dipper rolled his eyes as Dillon laughed. "No alcohol."

"Bah, then why are you making drinks anyway?" Stan scoffed, not seeing the point in being excited about virgin drinks. Seb took Diego from Stan's arms, confusing the poor baby (daddy? When did he put that on his eye?! Aahh?!) And the infant gave Seb his bottle. "Diego wins!" Seb grinned as he snuggled the mini-Stan.

""What?!"" Dipper and Dillon wailed.

-.-

The older twins and Dillon had a nice time in town. After the celebration at home with all their amazing family, who came to say hi to them (and most importantly, bring them presents!) Wendy and her friends invited the younger twins and their cousin to the Woodstick festival. Wendy was 18 now, just like her friends. Besides being taller (and more hairy, Mabel pointed out in the boy's case), the group looked just the same as they were when they were Mabel and Dipper's current age.

"Duudeess! Remember when you two were like super tiny!?" Nate laughed, ruffling Mabel's hair and making her huff. "I'm STILL taller than Dipper!" Mabel proudly announced, making her twin roll his eyes and Dillon laughed. Well, not for longer. Dipper was still growing, Mabel didn't seem to be growing as much anymore. Dipper was hopeful that he would end up taller than her.

"Well, not anymore! They're teens through and through!" Wendy punched Dipper's arm, they were almost the same height. The boy rubbed his arm and nudged the red-haired. If he was honest with himself, he still thought Wendy was quite a pretty girl, and she was always going to be his first silly boyish crush…

"Aaaahh! Hi, Paazzzz! We were waiting for you SINCE FOREVER!" Mabel squealed loudly and Dipper's eyes lit up.

But he had Pacifica now...and he loved her.

The blonde rushed towards him and hugged Dipper, and the boys all made mocking "Ooooh~" sounds. "Little Dipper's in looveee!" Robbie teased before Tambry, without looking up from her updated phone, nudged him in the ribs. "And you aren't?" Robbie flushed but gave his girlfriend a peck on the cheek.

Nate, Lee and Thompson burst out laughing.

They spent the entire day together, enjoying the nice music and kind of missing fighting with the Love God, he wasn't here (that they could see). Laying down on a huge blanket, simply watching the fireworks, Mabel laid down on Dillon's lap and looked up at him. "How are things going? Are you ok with little Diego now?"

The teen flipped Mabel's long hair over her face (a move Dillon learned from Dipper). "Yeah, I think we're fine now…" Mabel parted her hair. "Like, Diego is adorable, and I can't help but be fond of him…" Besides, mom and dad still treated him the same, so it was no problem. Dillon was relieved that getting a baby brother hadn't changed things.

Dipper was laying down with Pacifica and he was shyly stroking her hair. "I should tell my family we're together now…" He just...wasn't ready for all the TEASING! He'd never hear the end of it, with Uncle Seb, Stan...and Dad! Being assholes!

"Yeah, same...My parents are not gonna like it at all..." Pacifica trailed off before grinning. "That's why I love our relationship~"

Dipper rolled his eyes. "You better not just be dating me because it'd piss your parents off." Pacifica laughed, snorting lightly. "Oh please~ I wouldn't go through the effort if I didn't like you." Dipper blushed. "Th-ThAnks" He said with a squeaky shy voice.

They went to hang out at Wendy's house, Dillon was cheering with Nate and Lee at Thompson to do something stupid, per usual. Wendy's brothers left them alone and Dan was working. Mabel loved how well Dillon got along with their friends, she loved the fact that they could be together and not make it awkward at all. Like that one time in a friend's house back in California, her cousin was there and it just didn't feel right.

They were setting up for a movie now, Pacifica was helping Mabel make popcorn and Dipper was with the red haired teen choosing a movie. "Ooh~ We can watch this, sounds cool…" Dipper rummaged through the Corduroy's collection.

Wendy crouched next to him and pursed her lips. "Hey, man, question…" She tried to act as casual as possible, like she always did, but she was worried. "Is Mr. P ok?" Wendy had known Seb for years, probably more time than the twins, and he had always been a crazy crazy dude. Crazy but nice. It's not like she had never seen Seb angry or sad...but he looked...weird. Didn't seem… alright.

Wendy didn't know how to explain it. He was clearly in love with his girlfriend and daughters, and Wendy was so happy for him, but after that summer, after Seb almost DIED, and he moved away...He didn't seem...like he always did. He felt more...exposed, like he had been so strong before, nothing really affected him, and now she felt like this strong barrier just...broke.

Dipper looked at her. "Um, yeah? Yeah! Uncle Seb is fine, he's doing pretty well, why?" Wendy shrugged a bit. "Don't know, maybe I'm just seeing things? I don't know, my brain is melted from being under the sun so long!" She laughed.

They chose a movie and after it finished (and everyone ate all the snacks), the cousins went back to the Shack. Dipper was exhausted but even after making his way to the attic, he couldn't help but overthink Wendy's question. Why was she asking that? Was Seb really ok? What if Wendy saw something he and everyone else didn't?

Back in his room, Sebastian finally tucked Zoe to sleep and curled up next to Wanda, who was falling asleep. He didn't like not talking to Ford again. It was so stupid. They were supposed to be good now… He should trust him now, they were supposed to be best friends now...Why did all this have to happen?! What did he do wrong now? Seb took deep breaths to calm down as tears threatened to fall. No. No. He didn't need pills, he wasn't having another attack ever again.

Wendy wasn't seeing things. Seb really wasn't ok. He was not having another panic attack, because he was suppressing everything, trying to act as careless as he acted before any of that summer happened. Seb could have a big smile and dorky attitude naturally before, because everything was hidden in him, his problems were buried, and his panic attacks and fears were dealt with by hurting himself, screaming and clawing at himself until he was satisfied. He seemed better by being more messed up.

He couldn't do that now. He couldn't hurt himself, he was suppressing his emotions when he felt close to an attack and his deep traumas and secrets had been brought to the surface with his sessions. He was in the middle of a process of healing, he was finally going through the right path, but it was a rough trip. And he couldn't hide it all like he used to. He wasn't able to fake smile as well as he had before, so even though he was now doing better, he seemed worse. He wasn't supposed to act strong anymore and fake smile, he was supposed to overcome the hardships, heal, forgive himself and BE strong, smile for real.

But the only way he could do that was working on a better way to deal with his anxiety, and suppressing WAS NOT it. It was the easiest way for now, and because it was working, Seb went along with it. It was not healthy, Linda had already told him, he needed his pills, he needed to practice with her techniques, but Sebastian was a Pines, and Pines were stubborn mules.

It wouldn't be long until something broke Seb again and sent him spiraling down…

-.-

Seb was chatting with Mabel the next morning. "So...yeah, um I have this shite called...A...AH? AD? Whatever, it means I can't pay attention for shit and it's hard for me to stay put…" Seb accentuated the statement with a bouncy leg.

The still 14 year old girl gasped. "ADHD! I knew it!" She hit a fist against her palm. "Well, now that you know, are you getting help for it?"

Sebastian shrugged. "Well, not much I can do about it. I've just been trying to keep myself focused through my own efforts." Mabel frowned. "But isn't there medicine you can take for that?"

Seb sighed. "I don't need pills like some…" ...broken "...child. I'm an adult now. I'm better at just reminding myself to pay attention." He placed a hand on his chest and looked dramatically off to the side. "I've got self control now."

Mabel frowned. "Well, if you're sure." She hugged her favorite uncle. "I'm glad you finally know for real. I heard that knowing is the first step to getting better." Seb smiled and hugged his niece back. She was taller now but still the perfect size for a hug. "You heard that somewhere or are you just making it up as you go?"

Mabel chuckled. "You'll never know~" She wiggled a bit. "Have you told everyone else?" The girl asked.

"For what? No, it's fine this way." Seb waved a hand. "Don't go around telling everybody, Shooting Star!" He warned. Mabel nodded slowly,and of course, she wouldn't tell everybody…

Just uncle Stan~ He wasn't everybody!

Who told Seb to teach the twins to find double meanings in sentences? It was his own fault that Mabel had learned how to lie without lying.

While Sebastian rocked Zully, they were cranky as hell and couldn't go back to sleep, (If Seb didn't stop this, Zoe would wake up too and destroy everyone's eardrums) Stan stormed up to him and hugged him from behind. "Aah!" Seb cried, so startled that even Zully stopped crying. "I know now Seb! The twins mentioned it that summer when you turned small and cute and now that I know for sure, really, so many things from when we were kids make much more sense...I-I should have told you, I should have known before! I should have done something, it wasn't your fault...But I'll be here for you now, forever!" The strong man hugged his much smaller brother to himself.

"...What are you talking about? Have you been drinking with Shermie again?" Seb sputtered.

Stan ignored his question. "Why don't you tell us things?! You're not alone, you stupid knucklehead! You have to tell us what's going on with you!" Stan finally released him and grabbed Zully who was now sucking their thumb, slowly calming down. "I'm taking her!" The man sniffled, (though he would deny it if anyone asked). "Until you learn to trust your brothers!"

Seb watched his triplet walk away with his baby. What the fuck? What just happened?!

It took him a while to discover (Dipper told him) that Mabel snitched his diagnosis with Fez and Fez told everybody, even mom, the last person Seb wanted to worry. Kari later hugged him tight, sobbing loudly on his shoulder. "Oh, Sebas! I-I'm so sorry! All-All those years!" Her baby had a condition and she never knew! His hyperactivity growing up, his-his lack of attention… She sobbed again. Filbrick had never cared to let her get Sebastian examined, she hadn't even known that had been an option! His teachers had never suggested it and Kari had never thought of it herself. And she was kicking herself for being so stupid!

"Don't cry, Ma. It ain't your fault. It's not a big deal…" Seb winced a bit. He hated seeing his mom so sad, but she was crying for nothing. Everyone was being weird about this (Thanks, Mabel!) Shermie even pulled him close for a hug, whispering that he knew Seb was never a bad kid. Why did everyone have to make such a big deal out of it? Just because his brain was stupid didn't mean he had some kind of life threatening condition or anything! It made him feel rather uncomfortable to have everyone treating him differently, as if knowing that there was something wrong with him made any difference. He was messed up this whole time, it wasn't like he'd only JUST got ADHD...

"That's not it." Kari sniffled. "I just failed you so much as a mother. I wasn't able to do anything for you!"

"Hey, now THAT'S BULLSHIT. You were the best mom. You always held me and took care of me and… and…" Seb flushed and looked away. "And you taught me how to l-love, I NEVER would have thought I would do that as a human and- and thanks to you, I-I learned to be more human and I love you and my brothers and you haven't failed anything!" He held his mom as she sniffled and ran a hand through his now brown curly hair. Kari liked how he looked blond, it suited him, but he looked nice either way. "I love you too, darling...I love you all…" Kari kissed his cheek, smiling slightly when he smiled. If only she had been... stronger, if she had tried harder, if she had done SOMETHING to help Sebastian...She stood there while her baby suffered under her own nose. Lying, like she used to do, and sometimes still did...Lying that everything was fine, lying to herself, thinking things would change…

And-And knowing now that Seb went through so much...from a condition no one knew he had...All those times he was shouted at for moving so much and not paying attention...all those times SHE shouted at him…She could have, SHOULD have done something, gotten him to a doctor to see what was wrong, REALIZED that there was something wrong, but she didn't because she was stupid! And loved a man who didn't deserve it, didn't deserve her or the four wonderful boys they had...

"Mom...You can...let go now." Seb patted her graying hair but that only made Kari hug him tighter. "No. Baby." She declared, kind of forgetting Sherman was actually the youngest. "I'm not letting you go again."

Mabel poked her head into the room and took a photo. Aawww~~ Granny Kari and Uncle Seb looked so cute~ She froze when Seb noticed her and his eye turned red. He bare his fangs (she was DEAD! She KNEW Seb was gonna come for her later!), the girl shrieked and ran away.

Despite the threat, that didn't stop Mabel from trying to solve the other problems in her family. Now that Seb had confessed he got this diagnosis like a month ago, and thought it was intelligent to keep it from everyone, she had been more observant the following days, wearing a sweater than read 'detective mode' and studied her uncles with Waddles dressed up as her detective assistant.

Dipper joined her in her investigation ("The Mystery Twins are back, baby!"), because ever since Wendy asked him about Seb, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. The most obvious conclusion they had was, of course, that Uncle Ford wasn't with them interacting like a human being. He had been doing his best to leave his lab when they were visiting, but this time he barely showed his face around.

So something had definitely happened...Again.

The twins sighed. Looks like they had to go and get their uncles over whatever issue they had with each other...Again! Damn it, didn't they learn anything? Maybe they needed to find another fairy to curse them?

Back in the National Institute of Oddology and Science Investigation, Ford was cradling his cup of coffee in his hands while Fiddleford half listened to him, but he was more concentrated on his 6x6 cubix Cube. "He has ADHD, F...That, that's a mental disorder, right? Not that I didn't expect it, he was a 'Bill' after all, but, you know, it-it's not his fault no one treated him, right?" Ford felt a little guilty. This condition (which he felt Deja vu with, he could swear he had heard of it before), Sebastian had, had this condition since childhood...and no one helped...It explained a lot of things. "I never knew he had that...I would have understood that he was crazy for a reason! Then...we could have gotten along better..." He winced as he sipped his elixir of life. Urgh, now he felt bad. But if they had known Sebastian was insane back then, what would they even be able to do to help?

"Well, maybe knowing this now can help ya go and apologize ta him?" Fiddleford said without looking up and not really paying attention, because condition or not, Ford apologizing came first and was the OBVIOUS thing to do. "What? Are you insane? Sebastian doesn't want to see me right now!" Ford protested. "And how am I supposed to apologize? 'I'm sorry that I didn't realize you had a debilitating mental disorder and constantly told you that you were stupid?'" Ford groaned into his coffee. "He'd be even MORE angry at me than he already is!"

"Oh right, because ya stupidly called his children monsters, yes? I wonder why he's angry~" Fiddleford asked, very sassy and sarcastic. Ford glared at him. "You. Are NOT helping me!" He hissed before looking down, upset. "I've never been...very good...with...people...and talking…"

"I noticed." Fiddleford put down the fixed cubix-cube. "Which is why you should probably get therapy too."

"Therapy?" Ford laughed amused. "I'm not crazy~" like Sebastian was.

"Well, I think ya are, and that's coming from me, Ford." the engineer chuckled good heartedly. "Don't ya think yer interactions with Cipher might have left an impact on you?"

Ford twitched. "Bill Cipher was a DEMON, of course it had an impact on me. But I'm fine." Ford shook his head. "I'm not- I don't need therapy. There's nothing wrong with my head." Just to prove it, he thunked on the side of his temple and the metallic sound came out.

Fiddleford rolled his eyes. "Right, because gettin' a steel plate around yer skull is something perfectly normal people do." He huffed. "I am not normal." Ford showed him his six fingers. "I've never been…" Ford muttered.

"Look, I ain't even saying anything about goin' to a therapist because yer crazy or nuthin'. There are therapists whose job is ta teach you how to talk to people. Social therapists, ya know?" Fiddleford told his friend plainly. "You know? Talking to people? That thing you can't do and should probably learn to do?" Because you always fuck it up, was left unsaid.

The blond patted his shoulder. "I like you, but we both know it was some sort of miracle that I hadn't strangled you in your sleep during our time in college together." He said solemnly.

Ford stared at his friend with a deadpanned look. "Mblegrmble…" He grumbled unintelligibly.

Fiddleford continued "Remember that one time in college? We were talking about the girls and how just a few years ago there was only one girl who graduated there?" Ford looked down. "I told you not to voice it out loud how we thought back then that women didn't choose science careers… And what did you do?"

"...loudly declared that women were too emotionally unstable to be scientists…" Ford sighed. "I wasn't talking about ALL women though! I was talking about the types of women who were always going out for drinking parties instead of studying-"

"Which you didn't clarify, thus getting yourself slapped by every girl in our school." Fiddleford sighed. Ford defended himself, "I was just 19…"

"Ford, you are like 20 years older NOW and you'd still say it!" The blond laughed, making Ford blush. "My point is, learning to talk to people is good, healthy. It'll save you from uncomfortable situations and conflicts with Sebastian." Fiddleford patted Ford's shoulder.

"Stanley doesn't get affected by your words, and I'm not affected because I know you're just saying things without thinkin', but ye said yerself, Sebastian has anxiety, he doesn't understand you don't mean it in the worst way possible when you say something awful to him."

Ford sipped his coffee again. Hmph...He didn't like getting scolded like this… "MphgwurdTwuns."

"I sorry, can you speak not gibberish?"

The brunet sighed loudly. "I said...I'm worried about the twins...This doesn't have anything to do with talking with Seb! I just said I was worried about my hypothesis and he got angry! What if I'm right?!"

"What if you aren't?" Fiddleford raised an eyebrow. Ford stood up to pace. "Seb knows I love him, he died saving us, I have a deep respect for him, he just got angry because he doesn't want to think about the possibility of his kids being demons!"

"...Or he got angry, like any dad would, because you called his kids monsters? Something he hates to be called himself?"

"This isn't about hating Seb, I'm good now." Bill was gone, Ford had been influenced by Bill's cruel words, but not anymore. "I'm just stating a possibility!" Ford said.

Fiddleford sighed. "Hey Ford, when Wanda went into labor three months early, were you thinkin' of telling Sebastian that it made her chance of a miscarriage go up?"

Ford blinked. "Yes? Because it's true. And a real worry."

"That's exactly my point." Fiddleford folded his arms. "It's true, sure. He might have lost his kids, might have lost Wanda, that's all true. But you don't tell someone that. It just makes them unhappy. It would have hurt him very much."

"But… This and that are different-"

"The way they make your brother feel is the same." Fiddleford stressed. "And that's how it is."

"But…" Ford floundered. "But I'm just worried for his safety!"

"I get that. There's nothing wrong with wanting to keep your brother safe, but you could have found a nicer way of saying it without making your brother feel like you think his children are monsters." Fiddleford said very kindly, but Ford was huffing angrily. He didn't know, oK?! It wasn't his fault! "Well, I'm just a horrible person then, set me on fire and throw me off a cliff!" He (not-quite) threw a tantrum.

Fiddleford grimaced. "Dude...Calm down…" Maybe Ford did need a therapist for more than social interaction…

There was a knock on the door and Fiddleford opened it, because Ford was busy grumbling. The blond would say it was another language? But he wasn't really sure. It was the twins, the older twins of course, it would be kinda dumb to think it was the baby twins, but the twins were carrying the baby twins and were accompanied by Dillon holding Diego.

"Hi, uncle Fiddles!" "Hi, McGucket!" "Hi, Mr. Fiddles!" The three teens smiled and bounced the babies, making them smile and squeal. It made the man coo loudly. "Can we talk to Uncle Ford?" Dipper asked. Mabel grinned with a metal free smile, no more braces for this girl! "We just want to talk!"

Zoe in Dipper's arms repeated it. "Bih jah bah too toh!" She said seriously and hit Dipper's nose to accentuate it. Zoe loved to be held by him and to rest on his chest, but she always hurt him! Dipper didn't understand why she was this way! "Ow! Zoe! Not my nose!" Dipper complained.

Fiddleford looked at Ford and then back at the twins. "Eh~ Sure." He moved aside and the two pair of twins, Dillon and Diego walked inside. Ford turned around at the high pitched "Uncle Ford!" and he was about to speak when his eyes landed on two little blonds.

He froze.

"We came to talk about very important s-"

"Get them out, ge-get the-the twins out of my lab, please!"

Zully tilted their head innocently as Zoe pouted. "Isher!" She reached for him. Why was he upset? She didn't remember her dad's fight with him, so she just wanted to comfort him like when daddy was upset.

Dillon scoffed. "They won't touch anything, why don't you want them here?"

"Can you PLEASE OBEY me for ONCE?!" Ford's booming voice made the cousins step back, wide-eyed. Not even Dipper who had spent more time with him, had seen him this angry. Dillon and Mabel then scowled. They didn't like to get shouted at, Ford wasn't allowed to treat them like that. Mabel felt hurt though, Dillon was just pissed.

He never really thought of his uncle back when his dad was lost. All he knew about his 'dead' uncle Ford was that he'd shut himself away from the family.

"Fine! Stay here! You're doing us all a favor! It's not like anyone wants to see you back in the house!" Dillon adjusted his little brother in his arms and stomped off. Ford froze. Mabel sniffled. "...just wanted to see how you were doing…" she said sadly before she turned and left with Zully.

Dipper bit his lip as he looked up at the Author he admired so much. "You don't even tell us why. You never do." He muttered before turning and leaving with Zoe who was still trying to reach Isher, he felt as sad as daddy felt sometimes and she wanted to help! "Isher?" Zoe whined as Dipper carried her away.

Fiddleford winced. He saw how tense Ford was. "You didn't have 'ta shout at them." He said quietly. Ford breathed heavily, hissing the air between his teeth. "They're the ones who…" He cut himself off, turning away and sitting down on his lab chair. "Why can't they just listen to me and do what I ask?"

"Well, why DO you want the babies out of your lab?" Fiddleford asked gently, a little wary of Ford's temper and moving to put some space between them. "You know teens, they always want to know why. Won't do anything unless they know the reasons behind it."

"No, I don't know teens." Ford sighed. "I don't know anything about children." He rubbed his face.

There was a knock on the lab door. "Its open." Fiddleford called out. Stan walked in, saw his brother and sighed. "Alright Poindexter, what happened this time?" He walked over to clap Ford's shoulder. He had seen the teens making their way to the house on his way here, and Dillon had explicitly screamed at him "I can't stand your brother! He's a bitch!"

"Dillon!" Stanley glared at his son, who made a face, sticking his tongue out, and walked faster, with the twins behind him, feeling very awkward.

Fiddleford grabbed his Cubix Cube and patted Stanley's shoulder. "I'll give you a moment."

Ford went back to his book and ignored his brother. "Did something happen with the kids? Dillon seemed...upset…" He wouldn't tell Ford what Dillon called him. He had to talk to his son about that later, he shouldn't insult family.

Ford shrugged helplessly. "I-I just told them I-..." He sighed. "I didn't want them in my lab, and I shouted at them...I'm sorry."

"So, ok, you shouted at the kids." Stan nodded slowly. "We've been here for around a week and a half...I've seen you two days. And Wanda told me you had a talk with Seb, and now both of you are ignoring each other. Yeah, don't think I didn't notice." Stan raised a thick eyebrow. "So will you tell what you did or I'll have to find the info myself?"

Ford put down his book. "Stanley, what would you do, if you suspected that Zoe and Zully might be demons?" Stan blinked. "Seb was a demon and then became a human, and he's fine. I don't see how that's a problem. Even if Zully and Zoe were demons too, they'd be like Seb." He shrugged.

"What if one of them was Bill Cipher, the one we killed?" Ford asked quietly. Stanley groaned and rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter. Even if he DID come back as a baby, he's a baby now, and Seb turned out fine, so why wouldn't these kids? We just gotta raise 'em right." Stan laughed. "Frankly, I'm amazed Seb turned out as well as he did considering what our Pa did to him. You'd think something like that would make a demon worse, but he's a sweet guy, too good for his own good." Stan shook his head.

"But Sebastian is-" Ford waved his hands around. "You remember what he was like as a child? He was killing animals for fun! He loved it! and just-"

"And then he stopped. I don't see the problem." Stan shrugged. "He learned that he shouldn't do that, and then he stopped. Hell Sixer! There are fully human children who'd hurt animals for fun unless they get taught not to! Remember how I had Shanklin?" Stan narrowed his eyes at Ford.

"I wanted to train him to attack people! I strapped a knife on his poor back! Even YOU agreed it was cool!" Stan rolled his eyes "That's what happens when you're a kid, you do something stupid and wrong and then you learn that it's wrong, and then you can either keep doing that thing, even once you know it's wrong, or you stop. And Sebas stopped. And if you're so worried about the twins, well, I'm sure that between Seb and Wanda, they're gonna teach 'em right from wrong."

"And what if they don't stop? What if Zully grows up and hurts people-"

"Then that's just how it ends up." Stan grimaced. "Look, there are plenty of assholes in the world. Sometimes it's because their parents didn't teach 'em right, but sometimes, they're just a terrible person. And that's not really something we can do anything about. As parents, it's our job to try our best to teach the kids to be good people, but sometimes that doesn't happen, and that's just the way life goes."

"But it they're DEMONS-"

"Then we'll deal with it THEN." Stan told Ford firmly. "But right now? They're BABIES. Completely helpless and goddammit Sixer, Seb LOVES them. He loves them SO much. Even if one of 'em WAS that triangle jerk reborn or somethin', he would STILL love them."

Ford sniffled. "I-I don't...I don't think I can…Bill is a demon! I-I don't know...I-Sebastian is different, I'm used to him, he's my brother, but Bill…" Stan hardened his glare. "So what? You don't love the twins? You want them gone? You'd be happy if they were dead? Stanford, those are your nieces!" He shouted.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Ford shouted back. He wasn't even sure why he was scared. He just was! Illogical thoughts growing and growing and leading to endless nightmares that would never stop! Thinking, overthinking, overthinking the worse outcomes possible! And the twins had powers and they could be demons, Sebastian was a demon, he couldn't help but overthink!

"I just don't want Seb or Wanda to get hurt by them, if they really WERE demons." Ford shook in place. "I don't want to lose Seb again." He said in a broken voice. Ford really wanted to be on good terms with Seb again, he loved him so much, he was just scared of his own mind overthinking everything again.

Stan softened his look and shook his head. Idiot, but with good intentions. But still an idiot. Stanford could talk to him freely, Stan wasn't hurt by his uncensored mouth, he had grown a thick skin to insults. There were a few times Stan had gotten angry at him though, usually in space, when Ford, in his exasperation, called Stan dumb or that he shouldn't have been given the blueprints for the Quantum Destabilizer. He seriously needed to talk this out with a professional, these kinds of thoughts are going to hurt him and everyone around him.

"You will lose him if you don't try to understand him. Hating his babies is not exactly a way to bond with someone." The middle triplet joked, nudging Ford in the arm. "Look, Seb's always been… sensitive about stuff. And you're a blunt, foot-in-your-mouth kinda guy. And…" Stan looked at Ford closely. "...and you haven't been sleeping so good, huh?"

"I don't need to sleep…" Ford mumbled. "I have stuff to do, and there's this one research paper that-" Stan rolled his eyes. God, this guy…

"Ok, I've decided. You are going to sleep." Stan stood up, groaning softly when his back protested. Contracture. Should have gone to his physical rehabilitation earlier. That hit was horrible. At least the other guy was disqualified after a display of Stan's amazing acting skills~. "And then you are talking to Seb, apologize and tell him you care about him...and then I don't know, carry the twins or change their diapers. That'd show you care."

Ford made a disgusted expression. "No. And you can't order me around, I'm older!" Stan raised an eyebrow. "Well yeah? I kept your butt safe and trained you to not die in space. I was in charge. And I'm the middle triplet, which means I'm more responsible and always look after you two and Shermie. SO SUCK IT!" The man laughed before easily lifting up his brother.

"PUT ME DOWN, STANLEY! WHAT THE HECK?!" Ford flailed but was unable to stop Stan from carrying him through the lab and back into the Shack, some scientists saw the triplets and giggled. "This is so demeaning!" Ford slumped, blushing furiously.

"I don't know da-meaning of that word!" Stan grinned. Ford let out a wail. "Nooooo!"

-.-

Dillon was hidden in his temporary room, Mabel told him he had been mean so now he worried he would get grounded.

But Stanford deserved that! He knew uncle Ford made Uncle Seb feel bad and no one was doing that under his watch. He had Diego with him, as a weapon in case he was grounded. "You won't be stupid right? Promise me you will not do that." He rubbed his brother's belly. The baby gurgled and grabbed his finger, making Dillon smile. Yeah, it was hard to hate this kid.

The door opened and Dillon winced, but it was just Uncle Shermie. "Um, hey kiddo. Was wondering where you were...is something wrong?"

"How can Stanford be so fucking stupid?" Dillon asked bluntly, straight to the point, just like his parents. Then he thought it through better. "...Don't tell Dad." Shermie smirked and locked his lips. "Because he's a stupid genius…those are the worse."

"I heard Dad talking to Aunt Wanda about how he made Uncle Seb upset. He can't do that, not when Uncle Seb is great and he's trying to get better and goes to therapy and after everything he went through!" Dillon gritted his teeth.

Shermie awkwardly sat down next to him, moving Diego a little over to the pillow, and hummed. "Well, yeah...But you know, they'll get better. They love each other, you know, but everyone can fight and have other differences… as long as they make up in the end."

"Like uncle Seb hated you as a baby and almost killed you twice?" The teen asked and Shermie frowned. "What…?" He asked softly before shaking his head. "My point is, even if it hurts to see them all distant, it won't last, and being angry about it won't do any good to anyone, trust me." Shermie had hated the Stans as a kid, for not doing anything, hated Ford for defending Filbrick's decision in his anger, but that only led him down a bad path filled with drugs and violence. Heck, if he hadn't suddenly become a father and was forced to shape up, what would have happened to him?

"But then what do I do?" Dillon asked. Shermie hummed in thought. "Well...not much really? It's them who gotta talk this out like the freaking adults they are, you're just here to show them you love them both. They're both your uncles, even if Ford's a pain to talk to." Shermie said in his dad voice.

Dillon sighed and laid down on his back. "So, do brothers just… fight like this sometimes?" He asked. Shermie nodded. "All siblings do."

Dillon pouted. Things shouldn't be like that...He thought siblings were like friends! Always nice to each other. He looked at Diego, sucking his foot. He couldn't really know though. He had been a brother for less than a year. He softly pressed Diego's belly and the baby whined loudly, swatting his hand away.

Shermie laughed. "See? You fought." Dillon giggled and played with Diego's chubby cheeks. "Thanks, Uncle Shermie…" The green eyed man ruffled his curls and stood up. "Now stop sulking and go play or something. And give Diego to your mom, she says he gotta eat now." Dillon nodded and happily got up and on the way, saw Dad carrying Ford over his shoulder, shouting and laughing.

Dillon rolled his eyes. Weirdos… "Dillon, we gotta TALK after I'm done with him~~" Stan called out to his eldest son, making Dillon pale. Diego yelped when Dillon started running.

-.-

Ford had his much needed nap that day, and wasn't allowed back into his lab until he talked to Seb. (Fiddleford, the traitor, was helping Stan). So the next day, he made his way to the living room.

Seb was on the couch, with the older twins on each side, talking loudly. Soos was there too, right, Mystery Shack was closed today.

"NO!" Seb gasped. Mabel grinned like a little shit as Dipper screamed into his hands. "MABEL! I TOLD YOU NOT TO SAY ANYTHING!"

"Dude, I would have never known!" Soos gasped in utter surprise. "I thought it was some kind of code when Pacifica talked a lot about you at the Diner she had started working at!" It would have remained a complete mystery to him if Mabel hadn't said that Pacifica and Dipper were dating.

"PINETREE!" Seb squealed. "SHIP!" Dipper groaned. "That's so cuteee! Have you told everyone?!" Seb asked eagerly. "No! And don't tell them! I'm not ready!" Dipper protested.

"I'm not sure you know who you're talking to~" Seb high sixed Mabel and laughed evilly. "When did you start dating?!"

"A few months ago!" Mabel answered for him. "They messaged a lot and Paz invited him to come!" She squealed. Seb squealed too, and hugged Dipper. "Little Pinetree's growing up~can you believe you hated her just a couple years ago?"

"Please someone kill me now!" Seb, Mabel and Soos laughed. They were the only ones awake. Everyone was napping after lunch, like the 3 babies, or working, like Shermie and Wanda. The four of them hanging out together like this, they felt like it was that summer again, before Bill fucked everything up.

Ford smiled a little from his spot by the doorframe. He took a deep breath before walking forward.

But he stopped when there was a loud baby wail coming from another room. Papa Seb rose to his feet immediately, knowing their babies' cries, and apologized to his niblings. "Be right back, babies call~"

Seb left the living room and walked towards his room, finding Ford standing like a statue there. "Hey…" The man with the eyepatch smiled a little. He was tired of ignoring Ford, he was never able to do that for long.

Bill2 always said he forgave too easily. Seb didn't care though.

"Your-your kids are crying." Ford stated and the wails just got louder. A muffled "Heelpp!" Was heard from where Wanda was with the twins. "They do that all the time, it's pretty annoying." Seb grinned and reasummed his pace. "I bet they aren't even hungry or need a new diaper, they just want to call for attention."

Ford opened his mouth to say something but decided against it. No. Think before speaking.

"Are you still mad at me?" Seb asked, softer this time. "I didn't mean to ignore you...I was upset without reason, it's hard for me to not imagine everything said to me is meant to hurt me or put me down...Linda said that's part of my anxiety…" And she also said he should go back to his pills to help control that, but he was fine.

"But when I ignore you, you get angry and ignore me back, and that hurts more...so, next time I overreact...maybe just continue being with me?" Ford blinked slowly at what Seb told him before eventually nodding. Wasn't he supposed to-?

"Ok. I-I will be careful not to...ignore you when you ignore me..." (?)

"Great!" Seb smiled and rubbed his arm awkwardly. "Hug, smart guy?"

Ford nodded and hugged him, patting his back. Seb pulled away and pointed to the hallway. "Gotta go now, twins will burst their vocal chords!"

Ford thought about the interaction. Seb apologized...to him...But, he was the one coming to apologize? Oh well, that was easy! Seb and he were in good terms again and he didn't have to fuck up things more by apologizing! Ford smiled in satisfaction. This… was fine. He didn't need to… apologize. Right.

Dipper, Mabel and Soos were frowning at him though. "Ahem." Mabel fake coughed. Ford looked over at them. "Oh, hello Dipper and Mabel." Mabel narrowed her eyes and pouted. Ford blinked and it took him a few seconds before he realized what she wanted. "Ah, sorry for yelling at you earlier yesterday?"

Mabel relaxed a little, she didn't smile though. "Why'd you yell anyway?" Ford sighed. "I didn't want Zully and Zoe in my lab." Dipper spoke up, "Why?"

"It's not important." Ford tried to evade the subject. Dipper wouldn't let him. "If it wasn't important, then did you yell at us for no reason?"

"No. I just-" Ford sighed, leaning against the wall. "I have my suspicions that the kids might be demons." Mabel blinked and asked, "And what does that have to do with yelling at us?" Ford stared at her, mouth agape. "Didn't you hear me? They might be demons, one of them might be Bill Cipher."

Dipper shivered a little before narrowing his eyes. "That sounds horrible, but wasn't uncle Seb a Bill Cipher too? Do you have some sort of 'no Bills in the lab' rule?"

"Just...precautions, you never know. And, well, I was stressed and took it out on you, and that wasn't very nice of me. So, I apologize for that." He gave them a small smile.

Dipper and Mabel nodded. Mabel thought Ford was overreacting to that, Dipper was now a bit worried. Oh gosh, having to interact with Bill again...even as a cousin...that worried him. He didn't want to see that triangle ever again! In any damn form! But… Dipper snorted. "If one of the twins really is Bill, he's a little girl now!" He started snickering.

Mabel narrowed her eyes. "And what's wrong with being a girl? He can still do Bill things!"

"N-nothing!" Dipper said quickly. "But we'd be able to put him in little dresses and ribbons." Mabel's eyes widened and she cackled. "Yeeeeessssss!" The older twins started joking about all sorts of embarrassing things they could do to Bill if he was one of the younger twins. "I could put HIM in a lamb costume!" Dipper laughed maniacally.

Ford stared at his niblings in disbelief. They were… joking about it? Like it was funny? "This isn't something to make light of-"

"And then I can tickle him ALL I want!" Mabel cheered. "In fact, even if they're not Bill, I'm still gonna tickle them!"

"Kids, no, this is serious!" Ford stated but the twins were now ignoring him. He sighed, they were not going to understand, and walked back to his lab. He didn't care, he knew there was still a possibility, because he saw their DNA, Zully and Zoe had demon powers… Zully had higher Weirdness levels than her own father. There must be something going on here.

-.-

Sebastian cooed at his daughters. "Aww~ did you miss your daddy? Is that why you were crying?" He rocked Zully in his arms with a smile. Wanda told him that Zully had woken up, didn't see Seb anywhere and had started crying. "Awww~ It's okay. I'll always be here, even if I have to leave for a bit." Seb told his eldest. Zully sniffled, clutching tightly to Seb's yellow shirt. Seb laid down beside Wanda on the bed, she was holding Zoe, who had stirred but luckily didn't wake.

"A real daddy's girl, huh?" Wanda teased, reaching up to stroke Zully's hair. Zully huffed, burying their face in Seb's shirt. The parents laughed. "Well, I don't mind at all." Seb grinned. Wanda sighed dramatically and hugged Zoe. "If she was awake, she would go with you too…How did you win the two of them? Not fair!"

"Blondes like me~" Seb smirked. Zully had gone back to sleep, holding onto him. Wanda rolled her eyes. "Sad, but true." She snuggled closer to Seb as well. Zoe trapped her so she couldn't go back to her laptop. Might as well use it to her advantage to nap as well.

"I'm good with Sixer now." He was back to calling him Sixer, when Seb was upset he was Stanford. "I'm glad, he better not hurt you again or I'm gonna get mad!" Wanda huffed. Seb laughed and disheveled her in a very fond ruffling. "Don't worry, Wands, we always forgive each other…" He knew Ford felt the same.

He closed his eye and smiled. He was glad he wasn't leaving Gravity Falls all upset again. Everything turned out fine!

"And don't come back, Stanley until those boys are tired!" Carla slammed the door shut. Stan, with Diego easily carried in an arm, glared down at Dillon who had the decency to shrink in shame.

"See what you did, kid?! You HAD to play inside!" Stan exclaimed. His basket ball bounced away and knocked down some, well, many decorations from a table, breaking them.

"...Sorry…?"

Stan took a deeo breath before he snorted and laughed. "it's fine, I've broken a couple of things myself aa a kid, I get it, it's just the adrenaline, no?"

"Yeah! Exactly! Mom doesn't get it!" Diego was put on his stroller and the three went to the park. Stan was told to tire Dillon, then that was what he was doing. He'd leave Dillon exhausted as heck!

"You tell me, there was this time I was playing with Seb inside the pawnshop with a football and I broke...this...um…" Stan trailed off. He broke it, Seb got punished for it, Seb got cut with the pieces of glass... "It-It doesn't matter...Just know that breaking stuff bothers your mom and I won't be this nice next time! Now you will be punished with...practicing your dribbling! I want to see that in and out dribbling mastered!"

Dillon gasped. "What?! Not fair!" Stan patted his head. "Yes, it is, you broke stuff." "But you said you broke things tol and that you understood! The teen puffed his cheeks.

"Yes, I understand, but like you right now, I was grounded" (sometimes physically punished) "And also, I'm pissed because we will waste money replacing those, so be glad I'm being lenient"

Dillon sighed and groaned when Stanley ordered him to run around the ball court in the park to warm up. He knew Dad's routine. It was made by the Devil himself...

Next to ball court was the playground and Stan crouched in front of Diego in the stroller. "And what do I with you?" He cooed. He took Diego to the baby swings. He wasn't grounded. He could be tired by having fun. Stan smiled proudly when Diego squealed. His thoughts slowly drifted off to his family and his smile decreased a bit.

Anxiety and ADHD, and Wanda said Seb didn't want his pills. Seb hadn't had a breakdown in months (that Wanda knew of), but Wanda didn't want that to happen again, neither did the therapist, or him! No one wanted that but Wanda couldn't convince Seb to take his pills...Stubborn fucker.

Stanley couldn't help but worry. As per usual. It really wasn't fair that Stan always had to be the one to take care of his triplets. They were adults now, they should know how to deal with this and know better. But Seb won't take his pills and Ford (according to Fiddleford) refused to get therapy. He groaned. Heck, even HE had gotten therapy. His mental and physical health had to be cleared by a doctor before he was allowed to play again, after all.

He couldn't help but think something upstairs wasn't working right for Ford. Getting obsessed with the idea of Zully and Zoe being demons, or even worse, Bill Cipher? When he explicitly said he trusted Seb even when HE used to be Bill, didn't make any sense at all to him. He was CONVINCED this was something bad…but didn't know what to do about it…

He definitely needed to talk this out, this was ridiculous! Why were his brothers so stupid sometimes? Stan carefully pushed Diego on the swing, smiling at the kid's squealing laughter. "Hey, if you need therapy when you're older, that's fine, you know? I won't be angry, or disappointed. Getting therapy means you're getting help to get better. And that would be better than suffering. It's not a hard concept, right?" He asked the baby. Diego babbled. "Yeah, there's nothing wrong or shameful about it. So why do my idiot triplets have to be so stubborn?" Stanley continued.

"You know what? I'm gonna tell on them to Ma. She'll make 'em get their shit together." Stanley laughed. Pushing 40 years old and he could still threaten them with their ma.

"Ma!" Diego giggled and clapped. Stan cooed and smiled even more. Can you believe he made such a small, tiny and ADORABLE baby? "You agree with my idea no? I can have smart ideas too~"

"I'm dying!" Dillon complained. "50 push ups!" Stan called back.

Stan leaned against the metal pole and slowly pushed Diego again. Ma didn't know about Ford, she would surely scold him for being an idiot, that would be funny, to see a grown man being put in his place like that. Maybe that metal plate was crushing his brain. And then Ma would nicely explain to Seb why he had to take his pills, now that she knew Seb had ADHD, she would be more careful and help him more. (Ma treated Seb like a baby, it was funny sometimes.)

"...Shoot!" Stan turned around and raised an eyebrow, unimpressed, at the paparazzi who just fell from his "hidden" spot. "I've seen guys on trees and hanging from branches, you should try not to be spotted next time." Stan tutted. "Will you leave if you have a photo?"

"That-That would be nice." The man with the camera stuttered, wincing as he picked himself up. Stan covered Diego's face with his huge palm, making his son shriek with laughter, and smirked. The man ran away after taking a million photos, but Stan knew he wasn't leaving. They were like...rats. Ah, the downsides of being famous. It was such a pain sometimes...

He went back to his soliloquy. "Well, I gotta admit Seb does look like he's doing better, you know your uncle Seb finished his courses at that school he was going to?" Stan poked Dillon's nose. "He's so good at making fancy clothes, his drawings are amazing. Your mommy told her work partner to hire him to direct the production of the costumes they'll wear for a future play. And they said they would! Isn't that great!?"

"Bah!" Diego agreed. Stan stroked his soft hair. "Yeah...And he's really happy about his course, he's proud...He told me he wants to open his own store you know? He's searching for a place to buy or rent. You know, I wanna help him, I should help him right? He deserves it, and besides, asking the bank for money is shit, it just isn't convenient…" Stan shook his head. His first jobs were in the bank. Horrible. If he was gonna convince people to buy what he wanted to sell, it would be in a NICE way. Many people fell into the clutches of debt to the bank because they had no idea how banks worked. Getting into debt wasn't something you wanted.

Diego had NO idea what Dada was saying, but it was entertaining. He waved his arms and babbled.

Stan glanced at Dillon. He was throwing the basketball into the ring. "Son, raise your arms more." "Got it!"

"But you know what? I'm not that worried for Sebas, not anymore at least…" He was more worried about Ford now, really worried. Stan couldn't stop thinking about it. He tried to imagine Ma would solve this, like when they were children and a higher judge was needed to solve their problems: like who got to eat the last cookie, or who hit who first, or wore who's clothes without asking…

But he doubted Ma could do much for Stanford when he had panic attacks...

Soos had called him the other day, completely hyperventilating because Ford had had a nightmare, something triggered him in the middle of the night and he was screaming his lungs out, he wasn't reacting to Soos's worried attempts to break him out of it, but eventually he'd managed to calm down…

Ford used to do that back in their first years in space…

Stan groaned. "And that idiot refuses to admit he needs therapy." He told Diego. The baby squealed and reached for Stan's face. "Yeah, I know. I'm gonna need to do something drastic. For his own good." He wondered what he could do for that. It was difficult because Ford lived all the way in Oregon and Stan was in New York. It's not like he couldn't afford the plane tickets, but travel time was hard on him. He had to make time off work and training in order to make the trip. And in the long term those travels will turn expensive. But if he had to do that for his triplet's sake, he would. Stan always would. That was what he did. Always and forever.

He was the most well adjusted brother, he always had to deal with Ford and Seb's issues and take care of them. That was how it always was.

Part of Stan was a little upset by that, it shouldn't be his job… but it was. And… as annoying as it was, Stan would do it. One time, a thousand times, he would still do it. Because he loved his brothers, as stupid as they were. Besides, if he finally managed to make them get the help they needed once and for all, then both his brothers would be fine, and he wouldn't have to watch over them like this anymore…

He smiled determined and stroked Diego's little head with a softness you wouldn't expect from someone as big and muscled as him. "Baa?" Diego asked. "Yeah. I'm gonna have to pull out the big guns. Desperate times call for desperate measures…" He smirked. Distracted with his baby, Stan didn't notice the group of kids who joined Dillon to play...or how one shyly grabbed his hand…

-.-

"This is ridiculous. Get out of the house!" Fiddleford glared. Ford shook his head and covered himself more with his blanket before holding his gun closer.

Melody was standing next to Fiddleford, looking very worried. Stanford was a nice guy...but he...had gone a little cray cray recently...She worried for him, they lived with him, she liked to think they were friends (because he was the triplet brother of Soos' best friend), and they couldn't allow him to continue being like this.

Abuelita was vacuuming just next to where the poor paranoid man was curled up.

"Dr. Pines you need to get up. You can't lay in bed forever, as awesome as that would be." Melody sighed. Ford shook his head again, they couldn't see his face, but they could feel from their places how heavy the bags under his eyes were, and if you were perceptive enough, they could smell his tears. Fiddleford placed his face in his hands for a moment before straightening. "Alright. I'll grab his legs. You got his arms. We're hauling off and dumpin' him in the bath."

Ford squeaked when they all lifted him out of his bed. "What? No! You can't-!" He tried to struggle but he was exhausted and there were more of them than him and Ford let out a cry as they carried him off to the bathroom where Abuelita had already filled the tub (while vacuuming the bathroom wall?)

Ford couldn't believe the treason. She was nice! She gave him cookies! And she was part of this!

With clothes and all, the three new inhabitants of the Shack carefully lowered the trembling scientist into the water before exiting the bathroom, leaving Fiddleford alone with his friend. Ford was laying there, fully clothed and glaring at the blond. "I don't like this."

"If you took baths like a normal person, we wouldn't have to do this." Fiddleford crouched next to the tub and smiled sadly. "You're not ok. Ford, I know yer scared. Heck, I was exactly like you are when I started using the memory gun, I wasn't ok. Why don't you let me help, you stupid man?!"

Ford folded his arms, grimacing at all the soap on it. Had Abuelita put in the bubble bath soap? "I don't need- I can take care of myself!"

"Clearly you can't." Fiddleford rolled his eyes. "You're in the bath with yer clothes on."

"Because YOU put me in here!" Ford wailed. Fiddleford looked around, found a bottle of shampoo and poured a bit on Ford's now wet hair. "Start scrubbing and we can continue talking." This was ridiculous! He bathed his son when he was a baby. When did his life turn into this? Taking care of his college roommate like he was a child?

He sighed. This is what happened when you were a good person. Terrible weird things happened to good people like him. He only wanted a friend! But this was too much. If Stan hadn't called him and asked Fiddleford to look after Ford until he could get there to smack some sense into him, well, Fiddleford would have helped anyway.

"Ok, so finish cleaning yourself, you're old enough to take a bath yerself, ain't ya?" Ford glared at him with dark eyes. "You are getting out of the house, please wear clean clothes, then we are having breakfast-" He looked at his watch. "-late breakfast and we gotta talk." Fiddleford left the room to give Ford some privacy. He waited half an hour, in which he wasn't sure if Ford sulked the entire time or actually cleaned himself, but anyway, he appeared with clean clothes and an annoyed expression on his face. "I don't feel good. I don't want to go outside, Fiddleford…" He pleaded. He had nightmares. Many nightmares. He was sure Bill was back. He was sure Bill was coming for him, and his brothers and-

Fiddleford sighed. "Stanford...What you're doing isn't healthy."

"I AM FINE!" Stanford laughed tense, proving that he wasn't, in fact, fine. "I'm perfectly fine!" "You are worried again, you are overthinking again, and you are paranoid." Fiddleford stated. But if his friend really wouldn't accept the fact that he needed help, there wasn't much he could do. Fiddleford would just have to keep looking after him in the meantime.

Between him, Soos and Melody, they dragged Ford outside for some fresh air. They got him to eat lunch and even finally got him to sleep (courtesy of Melody suggesting warm milk with Ford's meal and getting rid of all coffee in the house.)

In this way, Ford almost seemed normal (aside from night terrors) and the months went by until it was the holiday season, with the Pines family meeting up in Gravity Falls for a late Hanukkah, in a mixed celebration of Christmas and Hanukkah, one of Mabel's inventions, her pride and joy.

The main portion of the festivities were celebrated with their wife's families, but afterward, everyone headed to Ford's place just to meet up and celebrate. It was just the best meeting place. The kids loved the town!

Dipper and Mabel liked their grandparents, but they couldn't wait to return to Gravity Falls. They were worried about Seb and Ford's relationship. Was it fixed? Where they still at odds? Ford had bags under his eyes and everyone could see that he wasn't doing well. He denied it of course but when Dipper asked Fiddleford about it, he was told that Ford had been getting nightmares about Bill again and was convinced that the demon was coming back. Stan had straight up told Ford that he looked awful.

Dipper didn't know what to do. He didn't like seeing his oldest uncle like this. He still felt a deep respect for him. And Dipper had had his own bunch of nightmares as well...but Bill was gone, they already told Ford the twins were harmless. He and Mabel told him that he needed therapy. He denied it, claiming he was perfectly fine and didn't need anyone poking around his head and telling him what to think and feel. Dipper almost ate his own hat in frustration.

But they didn't want to ruin the holiday by starting an argument so everyone let the subject drop for now and tried to focus on celebrating.

Zully, Zoe and Diego were playing together in the living room around the toys scattered about. Diego was a big baby now and could finally play with his older cousins. They walked much better than him, but Zoe and Zully liked him, he was squeezable and funny. The family was hanging out in the Living room, trading stories and catching each other up on what they've been up to. Dipper and Mabel were telling people about the Halloween they'd had together.

"We still went trick or treating!" Mabel grinned. "Gonna keep going until they stop giving us candy!" Dipper laughed. "Which isn't gonna happen because people STILL love the twin costumes." The two high-fived and Mabel looked up at the brothers. "We'll be old, like you, and people will still give us candy~"

Stan laughed. "The only reason I ain't getting candy anymore is because it's bad for my figure. I bet I'd get WAY more candy than you two if I got Seb and Ford to dress up with me." He flexed. Seb gasped. "We have to do that next Summerween!"

Carla snorted at Stan's arrogant look. "Lies. Him taking care of his figure is pure lies! He just steals Diego's candy after taking him out to trick or treat."

"But isn't Diego too young to trick or treat?" Seb asked, looking confused. Carla snorted again. "Stanny carries him around the neighborhood in a little costume and people throw candy at him." Mabel squealed and hugged Diego. Mini Stan~

"Well we didn't take the twins trick or treating YET. But we do celebrate Halloween in our own way." Wanda squeezed her boyfriend's hand with a smirk. Frankly, Sebastian loved Halloween and Wanda very much appreciated the sexy werewolf outfit he'd worn this last holiday. Just for her. Oh she appreciated it a looooot~ she appreciated it for several hours~ at least until Seb had passed out.

Dillon was very silent during the exchange, praying to any god listening his dad wouldn't- "Hah! But nothing beats father and son's costumes. Right, Dillon?!" Stan pulled him into a hug. Mabel cooed loudly.

Dillon groaned. Please someone kill him now. "I just...wanted to go trick or treating with my dad a few times...to know...how it felt…"

The coos and AAAWWW's were louder this time and the teen groaned loudly. "I don't do that anymore though! I go to parties now." Carla pinched his cheek "Big boy~" making the teen scowl.

Mabel gasped. "We went to a party too! It was cool! And we won the contest! But Dad picked us up at 12! Like some losers!" She glared at Shermie who unapologetically sipped his hot chocolate. Abi rolled her eyes. He was a total dick to the twins.

Dipper rolled his eyes. "It was embarrassing. He came right in, with a costume on no less, and everyone thought he was our big brother." Stan laughed and slapped his knee. "What was he dressed as?"

Mabel and Dipper both blushed. Abigail answered, "A sexy banana." Everyone stared for a second before bursting out into insane laughter

Mabel shrieked. "Do you know what it's like to see your friends and classmates ogling your dad?! It's not normal! You should look older or not show your face around!" She accused the green eyed man.

Shermie looked entirely unrepentant. "Hey, if I got the stuff, I gotta strut." Stan raised a hand and Shermie high fived him. Abigail rolled her eyes. "Damn sexy Pines men." Wanda snorted into her eggnog. Carla rolled her eyes. "Hear, hear. Damn the Pines men and their attractiveness." The women all clicked their mugs together in a toast.

Shermie looked over at Dipper and winked. "Don't worry son, you'll appreciate my wonderful genes when you're older." Dipper rolled his eyes, a bright blush on his face. "I'm 15, dad! That's how old you were!" Mabel grinned. "Well, Pacifica sure appreciates it~" Dipper sputtered "MABEL!"

Everyone laughed. "Well, I'm gonna get some more eggnog." Stan said, getting up. The other adults thought that was a great idea and followed him into the kitchen, leaving the teenagers and Ford (who'd been dozing on and off, lulled by the amiable chatter), in the room to watch the babies.

Mabel glanced over at uncle Ford, saw that he was pretty out of it, and whispered to her cousin. "Have you told Stan yet?"

Dillon shook his head. "N-not yet. Mom knows now...She's fine with it. And she said that dad would be fine with it too. But…" he bit his lip. "I just can't tell him right now, especially not after…"

"Hey, it's alright, man." Dipper patted his cousin's shoulder. "Look, Stan would love you no matter what." Dillon sighed. "I know, I just… you know." He looked at his cousins helplessly. Dipper nodded. "Don't worry I get it. Sometimes it's hard to tell people stuff and… Well, just know that we'll be here for you. We can have a baseball match tomorrow again! That'll make things better" Playing with Stan as a coach was really cool and Dillon liked it. He was a show off.

Dillon smiled. "Thanks Dipper, Mabel."

"Come on, lets go get some hot chocolate!" Mabel cheered. Dipper looked over at the babies, babbling to each other as they played with their stuffed animals and some leftover wrapping paper. "Shouldn't we be watching them?"

"Eh, uncle Ford's here." Mabel went up to gently shake him. He gasped and looked around, blinking blearily. "Huh? What?"

"Hey uncle Ford, we're going to get some hot chocolate. And we'll get one for you too. Can you watch the babies while we're gone?" Mabel asked. Ford stared at her for a bit before his brain caught up. "Ah, yes. Watch the kids. I can do that." He nodded, sitting up and running a hand along his face.

Mabel felt a little bad for waking him now. "I'll use hot milk for your chocolate, then you can get back to sleep." She decided. Ford nodded absently, blinking as he stared at the babies. "Right. Thank you, Mabel."

The teenagers filed out of the room toward the kitchen.

Zoe and Zully watched their older cousins go. Zoe pouted when Dipper was gone but focused on playing. She could catch his attention when he came back. Then he'd pick her up. She kicked her little feet with a happy smile at the thought. She liked when Dipper held her. He wasn't daddy, but he was nice. And he made funny sounds when she bit him to show him her love.

Ford rubbed his eyes, wondering how long he'd been out. How embarrassing. The children were playing on a thick blanket placed on the ground. He watched them for a while, marvelling at how small Diego was. Zoe waved some of the wrapping paper around and babbled loudly as she smacked Diego with it. The younger boy yelped.

Ford gasped. "No. Zoe! Don't hit him." He looked around, wishing one of the other adults was here to help. He didn't know anything about children!

As he went over to pick Zoe up and pull her further away from Diego, Zully gasped when their hand caught fire. The blond giggled and waved their flaming hand around. Diego stared at it in fascination. Seeing this, Zully reached out to let their cousin touch it, after all, he was clearly interested and daddy always told them to share.

Ford's eyes went wide as he saw Zully extending their flaming hand towards Diego. A handshake. A fire filled handshake-

The flickering fire reflected off Zully's large eyes, making them seem to glow and in Ford's half asleep state, he thought he saw slit pupils-

His stomach dropped. Bill was here. He was-

"NO! STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" Ford had to protect Diego! But he couldn't get to him in time! He had to stop Bill! He had to- Ford reached around blindly for something to use to get Bill away from Diego. His hand closed around the handle of a baseball bat that Dipper had left out in preparation for the ball game with Dillon.

Ford held up the bat.

And he swung-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eh... leave your comment? :3
> 
> PD: The Axolotl has a plan for everything, trust him and his divine knowledge


	9. Chapter 8: In a mind on the brink of its demise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bluefrosty: Hi! Sorry for the cliffhanger, we are evil :3 Hope you enjoy, drawings in deviantart :D Check my tumblr too if you want!

It was there! Bill! Bill was back! They were in danger! They were all going to die! He was going to die! He couldn't take it anymore!

The bat was swung…

But the hit never came.

CCCCRACK!

Sebastian's eye was glowing a bright red as he grabbed the bat just a few inches away from Zully's head. The bat snapped. Ford blinked. When did Sebastian get here-

Seb's entire body was shaking, his brown hair was slowly turning red. He snarled. "THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" His voice boomed.

Startled by the shout, the babies all began to cry, which only agitated Seb even more. Ford scrambled away, wide-eyed and gasping as his brother advanced towards him, growling loudly. His arms turned black with golden marks and from his snapping and breaking torso, long clawed yellow arms surged out, along with sharp teeth and long black tongues.

This all happened in just a few seconds, and when the rest of the family got there, Ford had been lifted up by the throat, squeezed, squeezed tightly, and the broken bat was held in one of the black arms. Ford gasped as he was slammed against the wall. "Sss-Seb-!" He tried to speak as he was choked.

Sebastian snarled again, lifting Ford away from the wall and throwing him across the room. Ford slammed into the other wall and gasped for air, coughing. But he wasn't clear yet, Seb ran over to deliver a punch to his face. "YOU!" Once he started, his fist started hitting automatically.

Carla and Melody skirted around the men to scoop up the crying babies and get them to safety. Shermie, Stan and Dipper tried to pull Seb away from Ford. It was pretty difficult. "Seb! Calm down!" Stan grunted as he strained against his brother's monster form. "Shermie! Dipper! Get Ford outta here!"

Ford's nose was bleeding, he looked dazed and in pain, he was muttering things under his breath. Dipper quickly ran over and grabbed his arm to swing around his shoulder. Dillon ran over to grab his other arm. Which was good because Shermie couldn't let go of Sebastian, the former demon had almost broken free from Stan's grip. The two athletic brothers struggled to hold Sebastian back, getting pushed a little across the ground as Sebastian tried to make his way to Ford again. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?! YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"

Ford had a dazed look in his eyes, paralyzed with fear and trapped in a flashback of one of the many times Bill had tortured him.

"Seb! Please stop!" Shermie grunted as he pushed against his brother. He didn't know what this scary demonic form was all about, but he knew that once Seb calmed down, he'd be devastated if he hurt Ford. (Any more than he already had, at least.)

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" The monster screamed as he struggled to break free. "I'LL KILL YOU YOU PATHETIC PIECE OF INSIGNIFICANT SHIT!" No one was going to touch his children! NO ONE! If he hadn't Seen! If he hadn't felt the sudden need to check on the kids! This-this stupid ASSHOLE would have hurt his daughter!

"Dammit Seb! The kids are fine!" Stan gasped. "Zully's fine! She's-!"

"HE TRIED TO KILL MY BABY!" Seb shrieked, straining and clawing at the air, trying to get to Ford, who was being dragged out of the room by Dipper and Dillon. "I'M GONNA KILL HIM!"

"Seb! I'm sure Ford didn't mean to-!"

"AND I'M NOT GOING TO LET HIM HURT THEM!" Seb screamed. Stan sighed. He wasn't listening. He was too angry. Dipper and Dillon were struggling with Ford too. The man had fallen to his knees, and was just babbling incoherences and crying. Stan let out a startled yelp when Seb freed himself with a new pair of arms and threw himself over Stan and Shermie, landing in front of his oldest brother, who just started screaming, terrified.

"BILL IS BACK! WE DIDN'T DEFEAT HIM!" Ford was crying, blood dripping down his face and a large bruise forming where Seb had punched him. Ford was sobbing with fear, shaking so bad that Dipper and Dillon nearly lost their hold on him. "I'LL NEVER GET RID OF HIM! HE'S ALWAYS GOING TO COME BACK FOR ME!" Ford wailed, not entirely aware of his surroundings.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Ford was screaming in panic. Mabel was crying as she hugged her grandmother. Poor Kari was terrified and at a loss as to what to do. Dipper and Dillon redoubled their efforts to get Ford OUT of there before Sebastian did something he would regret.

Shermie picked up one half of the bat and with an apologetic look, swung it at Seb's head with all his might. Seb's red and yellow eye went back to normal before he fell forward. He wasn't unconscious, but almost. He was stunned just enough to be properly held down. "Calm down, dammit. Calm down…" Shermie was terrified of this monster form Seb apparently had, but he was still needed to stop him. So despite his fear, he stayed with Seb, holding onto his arms (the human ones at least) to make sure he was pinned.

Seb's body slowly, painfully slow, went back to normal, his bleeding torso fixed itself and his extra arms sunk back into his flesh. He closed his eye, gasping for air, he was focused on the pain on his head, he wasn't thinking of anything right now.

They spent a few more minutes waiting to see if Seb was really back to normal before Shermie finally let go and stepped away. "Are you alright Seb?" He asked quietly. Sebastian hissed out a breath between his teeth.

Wanda was frozen in place. She...had never seen Seb like this...She...She only saw him use his fire...She let out a shaky breath, she could finally breathe again. This was so scary…Scratch that, it terrified her. Zoe and Zully hadn't stopped sobbing the entire time, (they felt how angry daddy felt and that made them upset), and she was holding the twins against her chest. "S-Sebas…"

Stan sat down, exhausted and ran a hand through his hair. Fuck. Fuck all fucks. Dammit Ford! What the HELL!? He glanced over at the crying babies in Wanda and Carla's arms. Melody had handed the twins off to Wanda and then made her way back to the kitchen to find the first aid kit. Probably a good call, Ford looked like he'd need it.

Stan looked over at his younger triplet. He couldn't help but wince. Seb was going to feel so bad later. Anxiety and panic hitting him at once. After months of being fine. Again, fuck ALL fucks.

He went over to Carla to hold Diego. "It's ok, champ...It's ok." He looked around. Everyone was shocked and scared. Everything felt tense. And sad. Stan hated it. Diego eventually calmed down, leaning against his daddy's broad chest. Stan hugged Diego. Fuck. Stanford was so close to hurting Zully very, very badly...If Seb hadn't suddenly run away to stop him…

He could have hurt his nieces or Diego…

Stan clenched his eyes tightly. He should stop thinking about it. It didn't happen (thank GOD) and the babies were fine. There was something he needed to do. He held Diego closely and made his way out into the hallway to try and find where Ford had been taken. He found Ford in the bathroom. Melody was cleaning the blood off his face with some toilet paper. Ford looked really awful, trembling, bleeding and half unconscious. Well deserved, Stan couldn't help but think. Soos wasn't there, he was back in the living room with Seb, worrying his poor little heart out. Stan glared at Ford.

"Oi, poindexter." He said firmly. Ford glanced up at Stan and flinched. "Do you have any idea what you did?" Stan asked, glaring. Ford shuddered. "I just-"

"You were about to HURT Zully!" Stan growled. "You could have hurt Diego or Zoe as well! What the FUCK were you thinking?" He continued before Ford could respond. "No, don't even try to make excuses. Ford, you NEED to get therapy. This can't go on. You…" He sucked in a breath. "Next time, we might not have gotten here on time." He hissed.

Ford looked down in shame. Stan could see his hand was trembling, he could also see Ford was trying hard not to cry. Probably because it could hurt, he had been slammed against the wall several times. Ford coughed up some blood from his mouth, he'd bitten his cheek during his beat down. "I'm sorry…" He whispered, still looking down at the blurry floor. He didn't even know where his glasses ended up. He was just so, SO scared...

Diego yawned (tired from crying so hard earlier) as Stan shook his head. "I'm gonna look into some therapists you could go see." Ford couldn't even protest. He knew he'd messed up. Really badly.

And worst of all...He was still scared. He still tried to justify his actions… still wanted to claim that Zully was Bill and that she needed to be… stopped? But… Ford whimpered pathetically as Melody gently dabbed his broken nose. But, even as terrified as he was, Ford got a gut feeling that if he ever tried to go near Zully again, Seb would kill him for real.

It took a while for Sebastian to go back to normal, and when he did, he realized what he did. "I...I hurt Ford…" He turned into a monster, he was a monster, he wanted to kill his triplet...

But Ford wanted to hurt his babies. They weren't safe. Ford hated him, he hated Seb's babies, because he knew they were monsters, Seb had made them monsters with his stupid genes and Ford hated them too.

Wanda and Kari were holding him tight, with both women holding back tears. Zully and Zoe were in his lap, Seb had hugged them to himself, worried out of his mind and desperately needing to hold them, to assure himself that they were safe. His breathing was heavy as he tried to calm himself.

Mabel was sobbing into her hands. "I shouldn't have left uncle Ford alone with them!" She cried. Dipper and Dillon were sitting beside her. "It's not your fault, none of us thought he would actually…" Dipper's voice cracked and no one even teased him for it.

Dillon was grumbling under his breath. He knew it. He knew Uncle Ford was horrible! He was going to hurt the babies! He could have hurt his little brother! How could he DO THAT?! He was just plain EVIL! How could dad and his other Uncles stand him?!

Of course, the dark-haired teen didn't really know anything about Stanford...He didn't know how he grew up or what he'd been through, he only knew about Seb. He didn't know how Ford felt or thought. He didn't know how traumatized and scared the poor man was.

They all retired to their rooms after making sure Ford's wounds were treated and he was asleep. (They also made sure Seb and Ford didn't cross paths again that night). Kari accompanied Wanda for a few more hours, seeing as how Seb seemed unresponsive. The women were worried.

They all felt distressed. This shouldn't have happened, not again. Seb and Ford had been fine before, they were getting along, and now it was all gone. Not only that, they had been too blind to see the oldest brother needed help too until his health started to decline. He was always so focused on his work, getting his mind distracted with something else. But if you left a person like Ford (who spent years trusting absolutely no one, and had trouble even fully trusting Stan) free time to wonder and think about stuff, he would start worrying, imagining the worst outcomes possible…

Unfortunately, but not unexpected, Seb woke up screaming that night, covered in cold sweat and unable to breathe. "No! No! I killed him! I KILLED HIM! HE WANTED TO HURT ZULLY! AND I KILLED HIM!"

It took poor Wanda several hours to calm him down, with her eyes full of tears and her heart in a tight knot. Stan and Soos helped her, while Carla took the babies away so they wouldn't feel Seb's panic and get upset. They seemed to be very emphatic to strong emotions.

While this happened, (the entire house was awake by then), Ford was dying of a headache and hearing his brother so upset (upset because of him. He did that. He hurt Seb again-but Zully- it was fire- he thought, he needed to-) wasn't helping at all. He was so tired but his mind wasn't going to stop. He couldn't sleep.

The older twins went to look for him, and watched their oldest uncle struggle to keep it together. They didn't...if they had noticed...Maybe if they hadn't… Mabel sighed, leaning against Dipper for support. She had been mean to Stanford when she first met him. It was true, he was a dick, but he was also struggling, he was also hiding his real feelings and problems, just like Uncle Seb had been doing…If she had known...

The boy hugged his twin, who was still the same size as him (people said she was taller, but it was because Mabel's hair was puffy and she liked big hairstyles...) He just hoped his uncles would come out fine from this latest upset. He wanted Uncle Seb to get better, he wanted the great Author to get better. He was such a brilliant man, and he was nice once you got to know him...It would suck if everything he worked for, his research center, his investigations, the fame that was starting to build around his name, went to waste because he was struggling with his own mind...

Seb felt awful for ruining this for everyone, they would hate him, he was awful, he was a monster, he just proved it to everyone! And Wanda had enough.

She took Seb and the twins back home on the next plane.

-.-

"I'm sorry for changing your schedule again.. "

"Eh~ Don't worry, I needed an excuse to get away from home anyway…" Linda mumbled. Stupid Reese.

"Why?" The brunet asked curiously and Linda leaned back. "Because Reese is stupid and I hate him."

"Is that your partner?" Seb asked and Linda opened her mouth to tell him when she realized he was changing the topic. "Anyway, we are here to talk about you, not me." She told him. Seb went back to pouting.

Linda felt bad for Seb. He felt so guilty for falling again and he had felt so bad. He felt like dying, he couldn't breathe. He wanted to hurt himself and she was glad he resisted the urge.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" The blonde woman asked softly.

Seb unconsciously took his finger to his mouth. "Ford wanted to hurt my daughter."

Linda nodded slowly, worried about what might have happened. "Ok...Did-Did you brother do it on purpose?"

Seb wiped his sad, pathetic tears. "Y-Yes! How could gra-grabbing a baseball bat and swinging it at a BABY be an accident?! He-He was saying Zully was a monster! And he wanted to hurt her! And-And I-I almost killed him...kill him for real…" Seb sobbed. "I broke his nose and-and I just wanted to make him pay and-and I just acted like-like...the monster he thinks we are…" Linda let the curly haired man sob until he could continue speaking. She was struggling to control her own rising panic at the fact that Stanford, Seb's oldest brother, had apparently tried to hit a baby with a baseball bat-

"I-I don't understand! Why-Why is he like this?! Why doesn't he like me?! Why does he HATE my daughters like he hates me?! I thought he didn't hate me anymore! But he clearly does because-because he is the only one who realizes I'm a freaking monster and disgusting and horrible and-and I almost killed him!" He laughed humorlessly. "I was...THIS close from...tearing his arms apart…"

Linda had to do her own breathing exercises to calm down. "Okay, let's rewind a little. What happened? Did your brother just pick up a bat and start swinging out of nowhere? Did something instigate this?"

Seb nervously pulled at his hair. Linda had to remind him to breathe a few times. "Uh-Uh...I don't know...He-He was looking like shit...He wasn't sleeping...And-And-" Seb thought about what happened. It hurt. He didn't see it, but he Saw it, and that was way worse. It left him cold. And so fucking scared for Zully… "He...He was saying Bill was back, now that I think about it…" Seb started chewing on his finger. "Zully's hand was on...was on fire…"

It kind of made sense in Seb's mind, now that he thought about it. Ford had been worried about Bill coming back. Hurt him in the process but they apologized in the middle of the year and they were 'fine', but Seb didn't talk to Ford for months. Stan didn't tell him about Ford either. He must have known Ford was not doing well and didn't want to stress Seb about with the knowledge of it...Then Ford tried to hurt his baby because that dumb Bill Cipher idea came back…

"He's insane…" Seb whispered. "Pudding brain...Bill fucked him up…" More than he thought. He tried to protect his triplet as much as he could from Bill when they were in the Fearamid, he tried pissing Bill off to make the demon punish him instead of Sixer, but of course he couldn't stop Bill from torturing Ford too, or erase all the years Ford spent under Bill's influence.

Linda frowned. "I'm quite sure I'm missing most of the story here, but from the sounds of it, your brother is suffering from some sort of paranoid anxiety, which, paired with sleep deprivation, and possibly hallucinations, made him think your daughter was… the demon version of you from your past life?" Linda tried very hard to put Seb's ramblings together.

Seb nooded, seemingly ok with her answer, in fact, he stood up and started pacing. "That stupid fucker is sick! Like me! And he had the balls to tell ME to go to therapy!" He snarled. "And because HE'S SO FUCKING STUPID, he tried to HIT MY DAUGHTER!"

Linda nodded slowly. At least Zully was fine. She didn't even want to imagine what would have happened if Stanford … "He needs help too...But what he did was not good, even if he's sick."

"Like HELL it was!" The brunet screamed. "I'm going to kill him!" Seb grabbed a pillow and punched it to the other side of the room. Linda frowned worriedly. "Ok...How about we talk about your panic attack? You were feeling down because you had another one after months of being fine."

Seb's angry face morphed to one of sadnesses. Oh… "I...I passed out...Wanda was there...and my mom…I-I felt really bad for hurting him, and I STILL feel bad! But he's stupid, he doesn't deserve me feeling bad for him…" Now he was angry and worried. "I felt bad for falling again." That was the only thing he knew for sure. He felt like shit, for doing it to himself, to Wanda, to his family. "I want my pills back."

Linda nodded. "Perhaps you should. Do you know if your brother is going to get any help with his own trauma?" Seb shrugged. "I'll ask Stan later…" Seb looked at Linda with his lip wobbling. "But...Zully didn't deserve that, right? Even if-if she was a monster because-because I made her one...you said so, like, how I didn't deserve what-what Filbrick did to me, right?"

Linda shook her head. "Of course not, Sebas. Neither Zully nor you deserve to be hurt. Even if you are or were monsters." Linda assured him. Seb nodded slowly, trying to believe her words.

Seb curled up on the couch again, missing the pillow he threw. "I'm a horrible mess, Linda…I'll never get cured because I'm broken! I'll stay at home forever…"

Linda addressed the next issue she wanted to talk about. "Listen, Sebas. You can't do this to yourself." She noticed this was very common after Seb had a fall. He got too incredibly depressed and wanted to curl up and die for a few weeks.

"We will go back to your pills ok? But you can't keep doing this to yourself. You had a fall? Yes, and it will surely happen more times until you learn to control it, but you shouldn't let that get you down, Seb. You can't stop your life after a panic attack." Linda said gently. "Everyone has a bad day. It's not your fault, you don't have to blame yourself for breaking down."

"I'll try…" Seb finally said. "It-It's hard though...It-It-URGH!" He pulled at his hair again, blaming his stupid tongue for not being able to express the stupid emotions he never understood and will never understand. "This wouldn't be happening if the Axolotl had erased my memories! But no! He wanted to fuck with me! And make me suffer! He's a dick!"

Linda massaged her temples. Reincarnation. She knew that was a thing. Seb Pines forced her to investigate more about it. There were testimonies and many religions who believed in it...She even asked some colleagues what to do if her patient claimed to be one. They essentially told her to treat her patient normally and simply take things as they come. Well, she was still having a little trouble with figuring out if Seb really was a reincarnation or simply believed it. It wouldn't even matter if it didn't upset Seb so much.

But it wasn't important. Not anymore at least. Seb was her patient now and it was Linda's job to help him however she could. And right now, that meant making that real or invented past life something that Seb could look back on and not fear or hate.

To make things a little happier, Linda changed the topic. "So, can you tell me how are the twins? It's been a while since I last saw them. Zoe still bites?" Seb smiled, appreciating the change of subject. "More than ever! Poor Pinetree had his cheek bitten and Zoe refused to let go and-"

Linda smiled a bit. She was going to help this poor man.

She just hoped his brother had someone to help him too...

-.-

"Geesh…" Tate patted his dad's back as he bravely made his way to the research center. Fiddleford told him about the disaster with Uncle Ford...He better get his shit together. His dad didn't need to be around him if he was like that. "Good luck." The teen said and Fiddleford ruffled his son's hair, kissed his wife goodbye and made his way to find Ford. They had work, but before that, they had things to discuss.

Very. Important. Things.

Ford was stupid.

Not stupid, stupid. But he was an idiot. One of the biggest idiots Fiddleford had even known. He just refused to notice. That was how Ford was. He was always denying that he was wrong about something. He just refused to even think about ever being wrong. And that was the problem. Fiddleford set his shoulders in a determined stance. Well no more. Stanford's stubborn denial had nearly cost him his niece's life, and that was something that had to be addressed NOW.

No more denying that there was something wrong, because there CLEARLY was something very wrong in that head of his and Fiddleford felt he needed to help. After all, he knew better than most what happened when you allowed trauma to fester.

(Though, that metal plate apparently prevented Ford from using a memory gun, so at least that was one risk they could check off the list.)

Fiddleford left his stuff in his lab before making his way to the Shack. He walked inside like he owned the place, and kindly asked Soos where Ford was. Soos seemed still upset with the scientist for what he did, he hurt his best friend! But Soos was a kind soul and couldn't stay mad for long, and he was also worried. Because he had seen first hand just how much Ford suffered at night, how many sleepless nights he had and how he disappeared in his lab for days, making it seem like Soos was alone in the house with his Abuelita.

Soos said Ford was in his room on the basement, Soos didn't let Ford go to the center because he was grounded, and Abuelita left him a soup and crackers. The blond smiled, thanked the former handyman, and went to Ford's room. "Hey, Stanford. It's me, Fiddleford. I'm coming in."

Ford was tinkering with something on a lab bench. When Fiddleford got closer he saw that it was that Weirdness Scanner that Ford asked Fiddleford to help him build a while back. He was shuffling through the readouts, a pen in hand and many notes scribbles across the pages. Most of them were crossed out.

"Stanford?" Fiddleford asked.

"But what if Wanda secretly had some non-human ancestors? Would that account for it?" Ford mumbled to himself. "No, that still makes no sense. There would be signs! And Wanda is completely human, I've scanned her multiple times-"

"Stanford!" Fiddleford rapped his knuckles on the table, Ford jumped and nearly fell off his chair. "F? What are you doing here? When did you-"

"How long has it been since you've slept, Ford?" The mechanic sighed as he placed a hand on his old friend's shoulder who looked like a zombie. "You can't keep doin' this to yerself. You're not getting sleep, you're barely eating and you-" Fiddleford snatched the papers out of Ford's hands when he noticed the scientist wasn't paying attention. "You need HELP!"

"I don't need help! I can figure out the reason for this anomaly by myself." Ford tried to get his papers back but Fiddleford held them out of reach. "Not whatever this is, I mean YOU need help. I heard you nearly killed your niece. That…" he glared. "That ain't good, that ain't fucking good! It's bad! It's terrible! Can't you see that you need ta go see someone about this? Your trauma, your mental health and all that stuff."

"My mental functions are fine." Ford scoffed. Fiddleford rolled his eyes. "So you meant ta try and brain Zully with a baseball bat?" He asked sarcastically. Ford shuddered. "No! I was-"

"You need to go see a therapist or sumthin' is what you needs to do!" Fiddleford jabbed his finger on Ford's chest. "Before anything WORSE happens and I hear about your death. OR the DEATH of any of the kids!"

Ford weakly tried to get his papers back, looking more tired than before. Fiddleford crumpled them and put them in his pocket. Ford screamed, and the blond forced him to stand up. He should be grateful he didn't destroy this crap. He should. It was only hurting him.

"Fiddleford, F! F! Let me go! I need to do this! If the world isn't safe, I'm the only one who can stop it! We need to stop it! Let me-Let me fix this! This is my fault! Let me be the hero this time! I'll not put anyone in danger this time! I promise! I promise!" He then started saying incoherencies, like the world would end again and the monsters were coming back to take over the world. Fiddleford glared and slapped him hard enough to shut him up.

"LISTEN TO YERSELF, STANFORD!" He shouted, loud, and Ford flinched, because angry Fiddleford was scary. (And because he might unconsciously flinch a little to any shout loudly directed at him when he felt vulnerable. When he felt like a child, because he flinched to his father's shouts when he was a child too).

"ARE YOU LISTENING TO WHAT YOU ARE SAYING?!" He exclaimed exasperated. "YOU-YOU SOUND INSANE!" Fiddleford cried, voice breaking with how emotional he was at the moment. "YOU ARE HURTING YOURSELF! AND YOUR MIND! YOU KNOW HOW AMAZING YOUR MIND IS?!" He snarled. "AND YOU WILL DESTROY IT IF YOU KEEP THIS UP! YOU'LL GO CRAZY AND I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU BREAK LIKE I DID! NOT IF I CAN PREVENT IT!" He slapped Ford again, just to get it out of his system, his blue eyes full of tears.

"Wha-What do you want to achieve with this?! Do you think killing yourself like this will do anything?! Or hurting your family?! You'll lose EVERYTHING if you keep this up! Do-Do you want that?! Do you want to be alone and abandoned by EVERYONE until y-you're livin' in a dump wi' raccoons and-! Because you can't think straight anymore because of something you did to yourself?!" The blond's tears streamed down his cheeks. "What-What do YOU WANT, Stanford?!" Fiddleford screamed and Ford covered his face with his six-fingered hands, trying to hide his own tears.

He didn't know.

And that was the worst of all.

He didn't know what he wanted to prove. Millions of things were in his mind right now, and he couldnt get rid of them. It only made him more and more anxious, he wanted to sort them out but he couldn't, he wanted to stop thinking bad things but he couldn't!

Fiddleford pulled his stupid friend towards him for a hug, and Ford's started crying, shoulders moving up and down. He didn't want to lose his family though. That was the only thing he knew for certain.

"Stanford, you need to see a therapist about this. You can't keep doing this. You're getting worse and bottling it up isn't helping you." Fiddleford slowly pulled away from the hug, mind racing as he thought about what he could do to help his friend. "I can introduce ya to my own therapist, he's been a big help wi' my own problems, what with the memory gun, insanity and mental torment from when I met that triangle fella inside the portal."

Ford startled. Right, he'd forgotten that the final traumatic straw that set Fiddleford down the path of memory loss was from falling into the portal and seeing… something. He never spoke about what he'd seen, that Ford knew about, and Ford hadn't really considered that Fiddleford might also have issues stemming from his own experiences with Bill Cipher. Ford slumped. He was an awful friend.

"But I can't-" Ford choked out. "They'll think I'm crazy!"

Fiddleford gave Ford an annoyed look. "Stanford. You ARE crazy, you haven't slept in heavens knows how long and by the definition of mental health, you're utterly fucked." He stated.

Ford sniffled and wiped his nose with his sweater sleeve. Fiddleford grimaced a bit and leaned back in his chair. "It will ruin my reputation, everyone will know, a paparazzi will see me and then I'll be mocked and it will be the end! The government will stop funding us! And-And say goodbye to making this international! We will lose credibility and everyone will hate us, dammit!"

The blond sat down as Ford ranted, watching him with an utterly unimpressed expression. When Ford stopped at some point because he needed to breathe, Fiddleford spoke. "Ya finished already?" Ford very much pouted and nodded.

"Since the research center started getting built, I was searching for a therapist myself. You know how much time has passed? Like a year. It's been a year. And the world didn't end. The research center is not closed, in fact, I've just signed 2 research papers. Ye know why I wanted a therapist? I did it because I wanted to be better for Tate and ma wife, Stanford. You don't get magically cured after going through serious shit. I got my memories back, but that doesn't mean I wasn't scared, that I hadn't spent 13 years out of my mind…"

"I-I didn't know there were therapists in town…" Ford mumbled after a while. Fiddleford grinned a bit. "There isn't. Ashton lives in Montana. We've only met face to face a few times. We have our sessions through video chat over my own secure channels."

Ford managed a very exhausted smile. "I-I want to stop thinking bad things...I don't want to end up like you..." He quickly corrected himself. "I mean, I mean! Like, insane! Like, out of my mind, I mean, like, abandoned, crazy, uh-Dammit!" Ford shouted. Why didn't he have a filter for his stupid mouth?!

Fiddleford smiled kindly, he understood what Ford was trying to say. "Don't stress yourself, I get it~" He went serious again. "You're going to therapy though, you need it."

"I-I'll think about it." Ford muttered but Fiddleford laughed. "Thinking ma ass! You ARE going! I talked to Stanley and he agrees with me." Ford groaned. "No~ Don't get my triplets involved, they are annoying!"

"They are annoying because they worry about you. I bet Sebastian still does, even after what you did." Ford's metaphorical tail tucked between his legs. He was so sorry. He doubted Seb wanted anything more than skinning him alive and eating his limbs. He almost hurt his kid after all. As Ford stressed over this, Fiddleford tinkered with a little something he pulled out of his coat. "You need help Stanford." Fiddleford said simply.

"But what if whatever therapist I get tells the press? I'll be the laughingstock of the scientific community!" Ford whined. Fiddleford clicked his tongue. "Naw, ol' Ashton won't say a word to anyone. Totally confidential. That nano-bot I done put in his tea will shock'em if he tried anything fishy." The mechanic grinned. Ford blinked. Well. With Fiddleford's penchant to react to all stress by building a giant robot to rampage until he felt better… yeah, this didn't really surprise him.

Still, Ford was stubborn. He sat down heavily at his work bench and sighed. He stabbed at the half finished experiment he was building with a screwdriver. "I might need therapy, but there's no one I can trust to talk to. I-I can't just open up to some stranger! Dammit, F, my whole issue is that I don't trust people!" He pouted. Trusting a stranger to talk about how he didn't trust strangers and got paranoid about little things...What a great idea!

Fiddleford hummed as he checked over the handheld device he was tweaking. "Right, well. I suppose this probably wouldn't help with your trust issues…" He walked over to Ford. "Hey, can you just hold still for like 5 seconds?" Ford blinked and turned halfway to face his friend. "What do you-"

And then he slumped over unconscious and Fiddleford turned his device off. He calmly pulled out his phone "I've got Stanford. Is the room set up?" He heard Stan on the other end sigh. "I feel kinda bad we had to knock him out." They had the therapist brought in and Fiddleford was supposed to try and convince Ford to go see him. And if he couldn't convince him, they would knock him out and just drag him to the therapist instead.

Fiddleford looked at his unconscious friend. Well, now he just had to carry Ford to the office. He-He could do that! Ford wasn't that much taller than him...He heaved an arm over his shoulder and wheezed.

He took it back! Even if his friend didn't eat...He was very fucking heavy! Soos later saw him, took pity on him, and the two took Ford to the Shack where Ashton was waiting in the attic room, changed up into a makeshift therapist office. Nice guy, he would have fun listening to Ford.

Stanley couldn't help but smirk when he saw Ford, carried bridal style by Soos because McGucket's noodle arms couldn't hold his triplet. Ashton gave Fiddleford a raised eyebrow when he directed Soos to the chair to put Ford. "Is that Stanford? Is he sleeping?"

"...You could say that…" The blond told his therapist. Stan massaged his temples. He was seriously here, all the way from home to make sure Ford didn't attack his possible therapist… He'd seen the way Ford woke up after being knocked out, got to see that a lot on the other side of the portal.

Before Fiddleford woke Ford up, Stan checked for guns on him (he knew the places his bro kept them, they were together for 13 years), and disarmed him. Ashton blinked in surprise at the amount of strange looking guns Stanford carried with him, even when he was wearing what seemed like sweatpants that could easily be Pjs.

"He's all yours~" Stan told the therapist before motioning for McGucket to wake Ford up. What did he do to Ford?! He was totally dead to the world. Fiddleford messed with a few dials and Ford jolted up with a gasp. He looked around frantically, hand on his chest and heavy breathing. "Fi-Fiddleford! I-I don't know what-I! I suddenly blacked out! What-" He held his head. What happened?! Oh no his body wasn't functioning anymore! He was going to die.

"It's ok, you just fainted because ye haven't eaten." Fiddleford lied, but not quite. Ford hadn't eaten or slept in a while, passing out was only a matter of time. "Yeah, Sixer calm down." Stan reassured his brother.

Ford frowned at the familiar gruff voice. Stanley?! When did he get here?! And why...why was he in his lab? Before he could ask though, he noticed an auburn haired man standing next to his triplet.

"Who are you?" He asked bluntly. The stranger waved. "Hello. I'm Ashton Kimbel. I'm Fiddleford's therapist, and perhaps yours as well."

Ford looked at Stanley and Fiddleford leaning against the wall, and glared when they fist bumped. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"We're sorry, but you were refusing to go! So we brought the therapist to you!" Stan grinned, waving his hands in a jazz move. The blond nodded. "We will stay with you, so you aren't alone, and because we fear for Ashton's life."

The man really hoped they were kidding. He didn't know much about Stanford...but he went through the same things Fiddleford did...Oof. It meant he had a lot to work on with him.

Ashton looked at Ford. "I know you don't trust me, we don't know each other, so I really can't force you to tell me things you don't want to."

"Yeah. At least someone understands that…" Ford grumbled, glaring at his friend and brother. "I'm actually fine though, I don't need someone looking into my mind, I already had enough of that for a fucking life time." Ford stood up to entertain himself with something else as the other men watched.

Ashton nodded. "Yeah, I can imagine...Maybe my presence is not so required after all. You two are also too busy for therapy. Fiddleford barely makes time himself for his sessions."

"We have a lot of work to do. Science, research, weirdness..." Ford nodded, looking at the man with a small suspicious look.

Fiddleford and Stanley shared a look.

Ashton nodded again, actually impressed by the mess this place was. He could SEE Ford was busy. He had books everywhere, papers, half finished machines laying around all throughout the house, he saw it on the way up here to the attic room… "You know, I did a year of engineering at college before changing to psychiatry, and I wasn't bad, if I say so myself."

"Pft, a year!" Ford grinned. "A regular student learns the basics in that time! It's nothing! Anyone would know that! I even skipped multiple semesters."

"You did?! How?!" Ashton asked with a surprised gasp. Ford puffed out his chest, very much wanting to brag. "Simple. Studying. And reading. I just took the finals." Ashton raised an eyebrow. "Well, I suppose if you can prove you know the subject matter, it wouldn't matter if you've spent the time in the class."

Ford sat down, somewhat invested in the conversation now. "Yes. It would have been a waste of time. I like school but I didn't want to spend the rest of my life there just because I wanted to take all the classes- you know I have 12 PhDs."

Ashton clapped his hands. "That's amazing. You must be very good at retaining information." he wasn't even just pandering to Ford's ego, he was legitimately impressed at the type of passion, work and dedication it would have taken to apply for and gain that many PhDs. "What made you want to get that many degrees?" He asked.

Ford scoffed. "Well, I was interested in the subjects, and that was how many I managed to get before my time at college was up and the ones I managed to test into and earn in between my work." He pouted. "I would have gone for a few more but the school claimed I had to take a break." He looked almost petulant when he admitted this point. Ashton chuckled. "Well, perhaps they thought you were overworking yourself." like you are right now, that part went unsaid, but Fiddleford and Stan certainly heard it. Ford didn't notice as he was eagerly continuing to rant about how unfair it was that the university just didn't understand that he could handle that level of work with no ill side effects.

"Because, I mean, they get too worried for nothing!" He pointed at Stan and Fiddle, watching from their spot. "Who hasn't stayed up all night studying? It's something everybody does! And, well, it's not like I have trouble learning things, I have a photographic memory and, and I'm a genius!" He left out the part about how he was tricked by a demon...but it was a DEMON, a supernatural being of pure energy that had knowledge of EVERYTHING, Ford thought that not even he could have seen it coming… it was simply so… amazing to learn from Bill. Everything and anything Ford had wanted to know, Bill had known, it was easy for him, child's play… Ford frowned. "And maybe I'm not getting much sleep, but it's not as if the human body can't survive with less, I drink coffee!"

Ashton nodded. "Well, personally, I enjoy sleeping. It's relaxing." Stan nodded. Sleeping was amazing~ ESPECIALLY after tiring workouts, and ESPECIALLY after spending quality time with his fiancee~

Ford shuddered. "I don't like it. It's a waste of valuable time that could be spent working. It's a pain to have to put my projects on hold for four hours just because I have to-"

Stan muttered to himself "Four hours is definitely not enough sleep for a human being…"

"-but it gets hard to see straight when I don't rest my eyes-" Ford paused. "Should I get mechanical eyes instead? Then they wouldn't get tired…" He pulled out his journal and wrote that down. "See about building robotic eyes to replace inferior biological ones…"

"You definitely shouldn't do that." Fiddleford grimaced and Stan made a very worried face. What the actual fuck?! Ashton sent them a look to shut up and he looked at Ford. No one with a clear and half healthy mind would do that. "That sounds dangerous, replacing your EYES...have you always worn glasses?" Ashton asked simply.

Ford nodded as he was already designing a prototype. Fiddleford hugged Stan who was getting more worried. "Uh? Yeah, glasses, got them when I was 5, my father has very bad eyesight, all my brothers and I seem to have inherited this trait…" One more reason to CHANGE HIS EYES! Imagine how COOL would that be! He-He could even put sensors and scanners so he could detect weirdness and know who to avoid! That would solve the problem of his paranoia completely!

Ashton looked at Ford's hand on the journal. Huh… "I haven't noticed your hands before...Is that hereditary too?"

Ford's writing hand stopped and Ashton didn't miss how his free hand turned into a fist and Ford dropped his journal in his lap to fold his hands behind his back. "I...I am not quite sure. Not that-Not that I've heard of, no…"

Ashton nodded slowly. Stan and Fiddleford watched. What was he trying to do?

"Does it have a scientific name? I've heard of people with six fingers but I've never seen it in person."

Ford grumbled. "Yes, polydactyl, many fingers, I get it." Stan couldn't help but add "I discovered it first~ But I thought that was a dinosaur when we were kids!"

Ashton smiled, holding back laughter when the tired scientist managed to chuckle. "Yes, I remember that. You and Sebastian called me a dinosaur, then I did my own research because yours came from uncredited sources, and one: a pterodactyl is not a dinosaur, two: you were pronouncing it all wrong!" He lectured his brother. Stan rolled his eyes.

Ashton nodded. "Ah, so polydactyl, I suppose that means the condition is polydactylism? That sounds pretty cool." Ford turned to stare at him. "Cool?" He asked faintly. "No, it's a mutation, an abnormality."

"But it's got a name. Which means it's happened before, and enough times that science has a name for it." Ashton pointed out. "So you're not a unique case. And if it's shown up in other people through history, then it's not really all that much of an abnormality, now is it?"

"Giving it a name just means it's registered, it doesn't make it cooler." Ford deadpanned. Tell anyone with a mutation that it's cool! Of course! He looked down bitterly. IT wasn't cool. It was unnatural.

"Oh, I'm not saying it's cool because it has an interesting name." Ashton shrugged. "I'm saying it's cool because having extra fingers seems quite useful. If you learned how to play an instrument, would you be more skilled? Or if you had to do any other dexterous activity." He pointed out. Ford huffed. Instruments. He couldn't play them. It was dumb, he should be able to. "Though, I suppose it must have been difficult to grow up in a society that caters to 5 fingered people." Ashton mused aloud.

"Yes!" Ford huffed even more. "They don't make gloves I can wear, I have to special order them! And don't even get me started on the rubber gloves I need for when I'm handling chemicals!" It was a huge pain that he was forced to struggle during the science classes that involved gloves.

"My parents should have just fixed them when I was a kid but they didn't!" Ford said, fake cheerful. "So, I just had to deal with the aftermath."

"Fixed? What do you mean by that?" Ashton asked, he had an idea of what Ford was talking about but he needed confirmation. Ford gave him a grin that looked more like a grimace. "Surgically removed them, then I would have fit in just fine!"

Ashton could see this was a major issue with the poor man. "So you believe your parents should have 'fixed' you as a child? As a baby?" He asked carefully. Ford laughed bitterly. "Yes!" Save him a childhood of bullying! That would have been so much easier for him!

People would have only bothered Seb-! Ford caught himself before he could finish that thought. He felt cold. He felt sick. Had he really just thought that? Had he really just thought that having the bullies only go after his brother would have been better? "But, not to be better than anyone…" He clarified. "Just, just for myself…" He paused. No. That still made it sound like… "I mean, to feel better...And they should have fixed Sebastian too…" He said, but his voice came out weakly.

Stan glared. "And what? You think ma and pa should have cut off his finger too? And ripped out his eye as well?" He asked. Fiddleford was shivering. Ashton looked back at Stan with a frown. So they had another brother with birth defects? Ashton sighed and turned back to Ford. The scientist looked uncomfortable. "W-well if Sebastian didn't have his extra finger and that ugly eye, he wouldn't have suffered as bad as he-"

"Did you just call Sebas UGLY?" Stan growled as Fiddleford pulled him back. "Hey, how about we go and step outside for a bit…" The mechanic sweated.

"No, not HIM! Just, just his eye! Like my fingers! Which are disgusting! I can call them ugly too!" Ford was getting frustrated at Stanley not understanding what he meant to say. "See!? Ugly! Disgusting! Freaky!" He waved a hand at Stan. "It's not about Sebastian being ugly-!"

"No they're NOT!" Stan all but roared. "Your fingers are FINGERS. And Seb's eye was his EYE. He didn't want his eye anymore when he was older, and that's fine-" Stan shook. "But Seb thought his eye was COOL until OTHER people told him it was ugly! That's why he started wearing an eyepatch and he could NEVER feel comfortable without it ever again! Just like you started feeling like your fingers were freaky, and you tried to hide them." He glared. "Your fingers aren't the problem! The problem is that OTHER people made you feel BAD for them!"

Ashton let Stanley rant, he clearly had something he wanted to get off his chest. The therapist wondered how many of their family needed therapy. He hoped they were getting the help they needed. That Sebastian brother sounded like he must have gone through a lot too. Ashton sat back and observed Stanford's reaction to Stanley's words.

"Stanley you've NEVER had anything to worry about! Ever!" Ford emphasized. "You didn't suffer like us! Because no one targeted YOU! You were just the COOL GUY! Who could have had ALL THE KIDS AT HIS FEET if you wanted to! If you HADN'T STUCK WITH US!" Because Ford discovered that people thought Stan stayed with them for pity, because no one liked the weirdo and the crazy weirdo. Stan had nothing to worry about, he was just dumb for staying. He should have stayed away and lived like a normal kid!

"I HAD TO WORRY ABOUT YOU AND SEB!" Stan retorted. "Who do you think got beat up protecting your skinny ass all through our childhood? And who do you think got prodded and STRIPPED NAKED by the guys in the changing room as they tried to SEARCH me to see where MY mutations could be? Because of COURSE I must have something wrong with me TOO! We're identical triplets after all!" Stan's hands were clenched tight. "I had to work HARD to get people to think I was COOL! And why WOULDN'T I stick with you an' Seb?! You're my triplets! And we stick together! It was us against the world! That's how it's always been! But-But we got split up! And THAT'S what ruined everything!"

Ford flinched back. The other kids had stripped Stan? To… to try and find any defects on him? "I…" Ford shrank in on himself. "I never knew…" he whimpered. Stan scoffed. "Of course you didn't. You only ever thought about yourself. Always have." Stan clenched and unclenched his fists. "But I never cared. You two were my brothers. And I just wanted to make sure you were both alright." He looked away. "And even now, I'm just worried about you. I just want you to be safe and happy. And you never cared about that. Always off in your own head with your own worries without ever thinkin' about how you're making the rest of us feel." His voice did NOT crack. Stan would deny that forever. "You're hurtin' yourself and you refuse to accept my help. I can't…" Stan rubbed at his eyes furiously. "I ain't smart like you. But I sure as hell am smart enough to know that what you're doing here-" Stan gestured at Ford. "-ain't healthy! And this whole thing you've got? With the whole callin' yourself a freak because of some measly extra fingers? That ain't healthy."

Stan strode over to stand in front of his triplet. "There ain't nothing wrong wi' your fingers, Ford. Just 'cause our shithead of a Pa thought so, and the stupid judgmental shit brats in our neighborhood thought so, don't mean it's true!" Stan lifted a hand and poked Ford's chest. "And I want you to get that through-through that stupid thick metal plate of yours! And-And if it's not me! Then someone else will have to! Because-Because I don't want to turn into an old man and-and watch you two STILL fighting and arguing and thinking you're horrible or whatever the FUCK it is in your head! Because you AREN'T! Heck, see what you've done! We survived space! And you opened this place! And so many people work for you! And I bet those assholes who laughed at you as a kid don't even have ANYTHING like that in their lives! They haven't done a THIRD of what you have! Because they were stupid! And you aren't! And you can't-you can't let some stupid fingers get you down for that! Or dumb stupid ideas of demons and monsters! Ok?! Is that CLEAR?!" The man shouted with his eyes leaking tears that he couldn't hold back anymore, and Ford, frozen in place, stared deep into Stanley's eyes with his own tearfilled ones.

Ford nodded slowly. "Ok, Stanley…" Stanford whispered in a soft voice, holding back an unmanly sob. Stanley nodded with a firm expression. He pulled his brother into a hug and patted his back. "Ok...Ok...Right…" The two pulled away and Stan felt kind of embarrassed for bursting into tears in front of everyone. "So, Ashton is going to help and-and you are going to stop telling him you are a freak."

Ashton was very surprised with the display. He had intended to get Ford to tell him what he felt about his hands and begin to understand his reasoning, but Stanley's outburst (understandable, with how protective he seemed to be over his brothers, he was surely triggered by Stanford's very interesting words about their other sibling) had provided him even more valuable information about Stanford, his family and childhood than he thought. There was a LOT to unpack here, he couldn't deny it, and it was certainly very complex too, but now he really wanted to know what was going on and how to help.

Stanley nodded, satisfied when Ford nodded again. God. That...That actually felt quite...liberating. He had needed that. Stan had gone to a therapist after returning home from the portal. He needed to be in perfect mental health, for his son's sake, for his career's sake, for Carla's sake. He wanted to be a good father. He couldn't do that if he wasn't at his 100% and Stan had talked about a lot of stuff with his therapist. But this? This here? Stan hadn't admitted to his therapist about the way he'd been treated as a child, he'd mostly just talked about how his triplets had been, and how that had made him feel. So… this felt good, to get off his chest.

Ford felt scolded. But he knew Stan was right. He was always right in this kind of stuff. He wasn't sure how not to feel like a freak though, even if he tried to act like it didn't bother him anymore. It did, and it felt like it will always bother him, even a little bit. And just how he could stop overthinking and thinking about 'demons and monsters'. There was so many things he thought about...but he could recognize he needed help. He didn't want to 'not care' about others, the way Stanley put it made him feel like a selfish monster, as if he didn't love him or Sebastian...He did, but...thoughts, thoughts like the one he had before...They ALWAYS appeared… And he wanted to get rid of them...

Ford coughed, clearing his throat and rubbing his face with his sleeve. "So." He coughed again. "I think, telling Mr. Kimbel that I think I'm a freak is kind of what I'm supposed to do. And then he's supposed to convince me I'm not, and make me believe it too." Ford pointed out sheepishly. He thought that was how a therapy worked? Stan blew a raspberry (like the mature adult he was), "Psyeah, whatever. You're still not a freak. Don't ever call yourself that again."

Ashton nodded and finally intervened "Yes, your brother's right, putting yourself down for something you can't control isn't healthy, you must come to terms with your hands and accept it as a normal part of you." Ford grimaced and Ashton nodded. "Yes, I know it sounds hard and like a very long journey, but with the right help, I know everything will be cleared. Recovery takes time. Healing takes time."

Ford nodded but let out a sigh. "But for that I need therapy…" Ashton nodded patiently as Stan rolled his eyes (he'd been saying that for months!) And Fiddleford, who was still a little shaken by the shouting, nodded at Ashton. He knew Ashton would help, he was amazing at his job, and he wasn't sure how he did all this and how the Stans ended up fighting, arguing, crying and apologizing (his strength were the machines, not the human brain), but...he did it. Ford actually seemed like he recognized he wasn't fine? At least, a little?

"I...I think you might be right...Talking, talking wasn't that bad either." And Ashton didn't judge or comment on what he told him, he listened, he was actually interested and Ford liked that. He felt comfortable, as if he was talking to his triplets or to F. "Very well, I think I can have therapies sessions or whatever...Fi-Fiddleford said you lived in Montana?" He looked at the therapist with a resigned look. He would get therapy. He cared about others, he just didn't do it right, he didn't know how, but if this was going to help him, then he guessed he had to do this...

"Yes, but we can arrange sessions over the laptop and face-cam if you prefer." Ashton assured. "I work with many of my patients virtually."

"Can you not call me a patient?" Ford grimaced. "Makes me sound crazy and sick."

Fiddleford deadpanned as Stan rolled his eyes. But Ford WAS crazy, and sick! What did he think he was? Ashton was a dear though and promised not to call him a patient. "What would you like to be called?" He asked. Ford thought about it before responding "Client."

The man left after agreeing on the days to work with Ford, and the 2 triplets plus Fiddleford watched Ashton leave to go back to his hotel. Stan grumbled under his breath about how he spent money paying him to come see Ford, but he had to admit it worked out better than he expected.

Stan wondered if he should tell Seb. His kids almost got hurt because of Ford's problems and Stan thought he had a right to know their older brother was FINALLY getting some very much needed help. You know, miscommunication and no communication at all was what caused half their relationship problems. Stan wasn't going to let that happen again.

He pulled out his phone to call Seb and tell him he got Ford to agree to therapy.

-.-

To say Seb was relieved would be an understatement. Seb nearly sobbed at the news. "Thank circles!" He wept. Ford was getting help! Seb wiped at his eye. "When do you think it would be safe for me to have the twins near him again?" He asked Stan with a shaking voice.

"Eh… I'd say give it a year. I'm not sure." He wasn't a doctor. "But you can still video chat with him. Let him see and talk to the twins without being physically near them."

Seb nodded. "Yes. Right. That… that would be good." Even if Wanda was still very much pissed with Ford. She was very angry and hating him with all her might. "I don't care if he's your brother! He wanted to hurt the twins and he managed to hurt you many times already! Do you really want something like this to happen again and put the babies' lives in danger because some psychopath wants to beat them up?! "

Seb hardened his glare, just enough to show that Wanda's opinion of his brother upset him. And he would tell Wanda how he felt about her words, because Linda said he had to tell people he loved about how he was feeling. "You don't get to talk about my brother like that, ANY of my brothers, ok?! And, and do you REALLY think I don't care about our daughters?! Do you think I'm that stupid to take the same risk twice?" He asked, taking deep breaths to keep everything under control. They hadn't had serious discussions like this before. Nor arguments. He didn't want to start an argument. "I'm angry for what he did, and I-I'm never going to forget that. Now, I'll be more careful with the twins and who they are with." He cared about the twins, they were his babies, he would kill and die for them, he cared about them more than anything else in the world.

"But-But just like you can't sentence someone with mental problems to prison, I-I can't say Ford WANTED to hurt the girls. He also needs help, like I do, Ford let Bill into his mind and that fucked him up." Seb was just seeing the superficial problems, not the ones cemented since childhood. He was only arguing to defend Ford's issues from Bill, and disregarding all the shit Ford had done even when they were children, he didn't want to talk about that, it would just give Wanda more ammunition to throw against his brother.

"He's stupid for trying to hurt the twins, they don't deserve it, but he only thinks that because he's paranoid and fucked up. If he's fine again, then it'll be safe for him to see the twins and not immediately think of a demon. He wouldn't hurt them if he was thinking straight!"

Seb rubbed his face, breathing deeply. "You-You said that, that it wasn't me when I let my demon side take control back when I was a teen...or-or when I almost kill Ford. And it very much was! But I can't consciously remember it. I wasn't thinking right, and you said that the things I might have done to Ford wasn't me, that I wasn't someone who would kill so easily." Seb grimaced. "So, please understand that it's not my brother's fault that he needs help and that me wanting to help or forgive him doesn't mean I don't care about Zully and Zoe." His lip was wobbling now, and his eye wanted to leak. But he said it anyway, it had to be said.

Linda had helped him see that. Seb had felt awful about hurting Ford, he was so scared for the twins now, worried they weren't safe with their own family, and that Ford had every right to feel angry at Seb too. But Seb also had every right to think his brother didn't mean to try and hurt the twins, because Ford needed help too, and while that didn't excuse him, it explained it, and helping Ford with that would prevent any more situations like this from happening and will help Ford feel more safe too.

And Sebastian still loved his brother, he couldn't stop loving his brother, even after everything. Wanda scowled, her green eyes still gleaming angrily. "No. I don't like him anymore."

"I'm sure you won't be mad too long." The former demon said. "You can't hate someone who I love, can you?" He blinked adorably.

"Watch me." Wanda huffed.

"Ok, I know you're mad, and you have every right to be so…" Seb stroked her arms gently. "Sixer was mean, and you don't like mean people."

"Yes." She had been very close to throwing that man into prison for attempted murder of an infant. But Seb stopped her!

"But he will stop being mean and we will be friends again, and you love me having friends~" Wanda grumbled and looked down. "I guess… but if someone has hurt you so many times, you shouldn't go back to them!" Seb leaned closer. "But if they are making an effort to be better, then I will give them another chance. Isn't that good?" He could see Wanda wavering, unable to keep the glare up.

"So I promise everything will be fine~" He kissed her lips for several long seconds, pulling her close by grabbing her by the waist. "Besides, hating isn't good for you~ You'll get older and wrinklier and very grumpy~" Seb distracted Wanda from pouting by kissing her neck. The tension in her shoulders was eased and she let out a happy soft hum.

"Because I know there are better things to do than hate, right~ Make love not war or whatever~" He was deepening his voice a little bit and Wanda melted at how sexy he sounded. Yes, well, there WERE better things to do than hating that idiot, now that her hands were sneaking under Sebastian's shirt, she could remember a few things~~

"Maybe if I remind you how to make love, it will make you forget about your anger~" Seb picked her up easily (helped by his powers, Wanda was not heavy, but he wasn't as strong as his brothers) and took her to their room. "Yes! I want you to remind me!" The blonde pleaded and wrapped her legs tighter around his torso.

Seb grinned. Yes! Wanda was distracted now! He couldn't believe it worked! Bargaining with sex actually worked! He'd read somewhere some primates did that and humans were just apes a little more evolved. Seb pouted. Bleh, he was an ape. How humiliating. But it didn't matter. The thing was that animal instincts worked!

Or his girlfriend was just up for it every single time? Actually, yeah, maybe Wanda was just always horny. Seb shrugged to himself before yelping as Wanda pulled him down by his collar, hungrily kissing at his lips and neck. Wait, why was his shirt off? When did that happen? And his pants were gone too?! Wanda grinned up at him. "If you really think you can distract me, you'd better prepare yourself." And Seb 'meep'ed as Wanda held up his underwear (when had she removed that too?!) and threw it off to the side. "I might need several hours of distracting~" Wanda purred.

Anyway, Seb was glad the twins were having a grandparent's day with mom Linda and Elijah…

-.-

Linda and Elijah were panicking.

"What do you mean you lost the grandkids?!" Linda wailed as she watched her husband spray the fire extinguisher on the carpet. He tried stomping it out at first and it almost worked, but then it spread to that really ugly throw rug that his in-laws had given them as a wedding gift years ago (and okay, maybe Elijah allowed it to burn a little, just a little! Just enough that he would have an excuse to throw the old thing out!) and then the fire grew to the point that stomping wasn't going to cut it. Elijah grunted as he sprayed the carpet and checked to make sure the fire was out. "Well, I've been somewhat distracted! I thought you were keeping an eye on them!" He retorted.

Linda looked around frantically. "Kids? Babies? Where are you?" She knelt down to look under tables and behind the tv, in case they had gotten behind there. "Oh where could a pair of almost two year olds have gone? It's not like they can open doors!" She wailed.

"Oof!" Zoe grunted as she twisted the knob. The door swung open and she quickly let go and dropped back to the ground. Zully whined when their sister got off their back. Why did Zoe always get to stand on top? Wasn't fair! "Ah bah bah!" Zoe grinned at her twin and stuck her tongue out. Zully huffed as they got up from where they were on their hands and knees to let Zoe stand on their back to reach the door. "Nah!" Zully complained.

Zoe had the gall, the utter GALL, to roll her eyes as her sibling. "Meh." She said to Zully's complaint. She giggled and toddled into the new room she'd opened up. Zully followed behind, a little more cautiously. "Ah beddy?" Zully asked as they looked around what was clearly a bedroom. It almost seemed like mommy and daddy's bedroom, but different. The colors were different. The items were different. It smelled weird.

Zoe looked around and pulled a loose blanket. This was hers to chew now. The small blonds walked around the room, examining the things, holding them close to their faces, touching them eagerly, smelling them and even biting them. So far, Zully found some very nasty candies and spat them out. They made their mouth too cold! Zoe stomped over them for hurting Zully. "Dah! Dah!" Zoe growled as she broke the candies and then hugged Zully, comforting them after their awful mouth experience. "Okie?" Zoe asked. Zully nodded, hugging their sister back. "Okie."

Zully didn't put any more weird candy in their mouth. Too gross. Zoe was chewing on that blanket she found quite happily. It was soft and fluffy stuff came out when she ripped it. She glanced over to Zully pulling open some drawers to pull the clothes out and run their hands over the fabric, marveling at the different textures. It was like daddy's workroom with all the fabrics that daddy used to make clothes! Zoe toddled over and magnanimously handed Zully another corner of the blanket she'd found. "Wah?" She asked. Zully smiled gratefully and took the offered corner. "Ah!" Zully stuck it in their mouth and chewed on it too.

The twins sat down to chew on the blanket together. It was nice.

Eventually, Zoe got bored (like she always did, frankly, she couldn't see how Zully could be fine with just sitting around and staring at things for hours at a time) and stood back up to pull more things down so she could mess with them. There was a large plastic box with plenty of buttons that Zoe immediately wanted to mess with. But it was on a table. She looked around for something to climb on but didn't see anything. And Zully was still busy with carefully chewing the blanket (Zully liked to eat in straight lines around things) and Zoe didn't want to stop them. So she reached out to shake the table instead. It wobbled. Zoe shook harder. The big plastic box shook and moved a little. Zoe shook harder. The box tipped over and then Zoe's eyes widened as it fell at her. "AHH!" She cried as she flinched, closing her eyes and covering her head. She'd had things fall on her before. It always made an ouchie!

It wasn't an ouchie this time though. She opened her eyes when she heard a loud "Sooee! No!"

Zully had their hand out, glowing blue and eyes wide with worry. And the plastic box…

Was floating.

Surrounded by blue and floating just an inch above Zoe's head.

The girl blinked at her twin and them back at the floating box. It was just there. Like daddy made things stay just there too. But daddy's glow was yellow! She moved out of the way and Zully lost concentration, the box then hit the floor with a thump. Zoe picked it up and took it to Zully. How did they do a 'just there' trick like daddy?! She wanted to do it too!

"Ah?" Zoe asked, waving her arm in the air. Zully looked at their hand and shrugged. "No?" The two babies sat beside each other, Zully scooting over to press against Zoe's side, and looked at their hands. It was almost like the fire. It felt like it too. But different. And they still didn't really know how the fire thing worked either. Zoe got bored again and started pushing buttons on the box she got. It clicked a few times before turning on and Zoe's face lit up with a grin.

It was a music box! (A radio actually, not that either of the twins knew the word.)

The box was playing something loud and vibrant and Zoe was already singing along (getting all the words wrong, since she didn't know the words, but she was matching the melody as she copied it's sound.) "Ah bah bah la la la laaaaa!" Zoe sang, happily drumming her hands on the box. It wasn't any uncoordinated drumming either, she was following the beat.

Zully stared at the box in confusion. They still didn't really get it. Daddy and Zoe really liked making those strange sounds. But Zully didn't understand what was so great about it. Zoe nudged her sibling. "Laaaah! La la la!" She sang, trying to get Zully to sing with her. Zully was weird. They never sang properly. Whenever Zully did try to sing along, they hit all the wrong notes. But Zully tried anyway. Zoe appreciated that. It made her happy!

"Lah la lah?" Zully tried to sing. It was all wrong but Zoe didn't care. It wasn't about sounding good. It was about sounding terrible together! (Mabel would have been proud to be privy to Zoe's thoughts on this matter). She laughed and kicked her little feet as she continued singing with the song.

Zoe stood up to try and dance, like she'd seen daddy do when he got really into the music. Zoe's clumsy baby limbs meant that she tripped and fell more often than not, but she landed on the blanket so everything was good. Zully danced as well, doing a better job that their sister, managing to turn their falls into a controlled tumble. The twins were having a blast playing together. They were so looking forward to showing daddy and mommy their new abilities when they came back!

"AH HAH!"

The small twins screamed their little lungs out when the door was thrown open and granny Linda appeared. "THERE YOU ARE!"

Mom Linda walked towards them and picked them up to hug tightly. "I've been looking for you two forever! How did you get up here?!" She heard the radio going off upstairs and had come up to check. This was the second floor and she was sure she closed the door.

And then the woman slowly realized the state her room was in. Mint candies on the floor, chewed and drooled on clothes, shoes everywhere, a totally destroyed blanket, and the radio on the floor, blasting music. It would seem two puppies came here instead of two babies.

"Oh my god!" Linda wailed. "Elijah! Come here!" She shrieked. The twins shared a look and squeaked when granny squeezed them in her desperation. Elijah came into the room and gasped. "Wow. They really went to town in here, huh?" He couldn't help but chuckle. "You're two little trouble makers aren't you?" He bent down to pinch their cheeks. Zoe protested and Zully whined.

"That's not the point! This is awful! My clothes!" Linda implored her husband to see the problem here. Elijah looked down and winced. "Yeah, looks like they went for my shoes too. We should probably go wash their mouths out now." He didn't want them getting sick. Linda still looked upset but knew that the baby's health came before anything else. The two carried the twins to the bathroom and brushed their mouths with the sparkly baby toothpaste that tasted like delicious bubblegum. Zoe complained the whole time but Zully appreciated the clean feeling in their mouth afterwards.

After a while, Elijah commented "You know, since the twins destroyed your clothes, you can ask Sebastian to make you new ones." And THAT made Linda light up. "Oh! Yes! I can!" She squealed in delight. Yes! A perfect excuse to get her darling baby Sebastian to make her some of his lovely designs! She grinned down at the twins. "Okay, I'll forgive you two this one time~" She patted their heads. Zoe rolled her eyes, not understanding what granny Linda was saying but knowing it was probably something dumb.

Elijah also rolled his eyes at his wife's excited smile. Linda loved Sebastian too much to be healthy… He narrowed his light brown eyes. Hmph! The only thing that reassured him is that Linda saw Sebastian as a baby (while the poor man was even older than Wanda and SHE wasn't a baby) and his daughter was protective of Seb, so she wouldn't let Linda get too close. And frankly, Elijah liked the man. Sebastian was a good boy. And he clearly was devoted to Wanda. It made Elijah glad that his baby girl found someone who cherished her so much.

So he would try to push his jealousy aside.

The twins were cleaned and now that they found them, they gave them dinner, dressed them in their Pj's and after suffering to put them to sleep, (because Zoe was missing daddy already and Zully was missing mommy, and they didn't want to fall asleep without them!) Zoe eventually settled down and fell asleep, clutching her very torn up shark plushie. Zully was holding onto their yellow baby blanket, apparently Zully got stressed when they didn't get to sleep with it.

Linda and Elijah sat down on the couch, exhausted from babysitting, searching for mischievous babies and cleaning the mess left in the livingroom and their bed room. "I feel like our kids weren't this much of a hassle." Linda sighed. Elijah shrugged. "I don't know, remember that time Wanda squeezed out a whole tube of toothpaste and smeared it all over the walls?"

Linda sighed. "Yeah...The walls smelled like mint for days...And worst of all, she was 5, not 2… Hah, remember when Junior brought a dog home and it ran on the carpet with dirty paws? Followed by him, also covered in mud?"

"Oh, Junior was and still is a mess…" The two laughed together, leaning on each other. Linda sighed. "You know, I was a little afraid when Wanda told us she was pregnant." She admitted quietly. "I know I shouldn't have worried, Sebastian is a good boy and he would never have left her over it." She pressed her eyes shut. "But I couldn't help but think of that asshole who left me pregnant with Wanda. God, I had to raise her alone…" Elijah hugged his wife. "But then I found you." He bent down to kiss her forehead. Linda laughed. "Yeah. I'm so glad we met. You're the best father Wanda could ever have." The two hugged and just sat quietly together for a while.

"I never thought I'd marry again after Mary died." Elijah admitted. He leaned his head on top of Linda's. "But I'm glad I did. Raising our kids together, being with you, having these wonderful years together, I can't imagine life without it, without you."

Linda laughed. "Look at us! Being all cheesy and reminiscent! Are we getting old?" She joked. "Nope. We're just wiser now!" Elijah cheered. Linda giggled into his chest. After a bit, she brought up, "Speaking of marriage, when do you think Wanda's going to pop the question?" Linda had come to terms with the fact that her baby son in law would never ask it (he was a baby, too pure and innocent and shy) and it would be up to Wanda to do it...as much as she still thought it was weird.

Elijah sighed. "Wanda will ask him when she asks him. You can't rush these things. You know I spent months planning out the perfect way to propose?" He told her. Linda laughed and raised an eyebrow. "After we spent those months discussing marriage and how we both wanted to get together?" Elijah scoffed. "Of course we had to talk it out first! It would have been horrible if I simply dropped the question on you without checking to see if you were open to the idea of it!"

"True, true~" Linda nodded, green eyes gleaming with mirth. "You were a dummy for thinking I wouldn't accept~ You're amazing, and very handsome~" Linda snuggled closer. Elijah beamed. Yay!

The two entertained themselves watching a movie, and when it was done, they realized Wanda and Seb hadn't even called! "Where is that girl!?" Linda complained. "I can't believe she forgot her kids!" The babies didn't have enough things to spend another day here. Linda huffed and pulled out her phone to call her daughter.

It rang for a bit before Wanda finally picked up. "Shhh-mom? This is- a bad time." There was some shuffling sounds in the background, along with some faint whimpering sounds. Linda scowled. "Wanda! You're supposed to come and pick up your children!"

"What? But that's not until 8- oh shoot it's 9:20 already?!" More shuffling. "Seb! Seb! Get up!" More tired whining sounds. "Ah, ok. I guess I'll go by myself. Get some sleep baby." More shuffling. "Here, water bottle. Now get some sleep. I'm gonna go pick up the kids." A grateful sounding groan. "I know Seb. Here, I'll open the bottle for you." Some sloshing sounds and then a sizzle, like water boiling away on a hot pan. "Huh, you should probably go take a bath actually. There's a lot of steam. How's your temperature? I don't want you catching on fire."

Linda waited on the phone. Looks like Wanda forgot she was still on.

"Come on Seb. Drink some of it- don't just pour it on yourself!" More sizzling sounds. The sound of the bathtub faucet running and then a splash. Linda heard Seb's voice moaning in relief. "Yeah, cool down. And drink your water." The sound of a kiss. "I'm gonna get the kids. See you soon."

Linda waited but with the muffled sounds and the shuffling, she was pretty sure Wanda had stuffed her phone into her pocket and forgot to close the call. Linda pressed the red button to close the call herself. "Ugh, that girl. Tiring out her poor boyfriend." Linda sighed. Elijah blushed. Well. If Wanda was anything like her mother, he felt a little bad for poor Sebastian.

His younger years were one of the happiest (but also most exhausting times) of his life… So many nights… Feeling out of breath… passing out…

Yeah. Elijah pitied his son in law.

Half an hour later, Wanda dared to come pick her kids up. She was wearing sweatpants and Seb's shirt. "Hi, I'm sorry mom, dad...I was working…"

Linda rolled her eyes as she and Elijah brought the sleeping babies to her. "Right. Working very hard I'm sure."

"Um, yeah…" The younger blonde had the decency to blush. "Thanks for babysitting…" She kissed her mom and dad goodbye before quickly running back to her car. She stopped and went back to her unamused parents to take her children from them. Oopsie~ She was distracted. She left Seb, about to catch on fire, alone, and wanted to return to him as soon as possible. Wanda drove carefully but quickly, trying to ignore the blush on her face.

Seb dozed lightly in the bathtub. But at least Wanda wasn't upset anymore. He twitched. He couldn't feel anything from the waist down…

He didn't mind doing it, he liked making Wanda happy. But she was… very… um… Sebstian blushed. He enjoyed the first hour, but then it got to be a bit much. Still, Seb smiled. It was nice. It made him feel loved and happy. He drank some water, moaning in relief at the cool liquid. He heard footsteps and Wanda's voice call out "I'm back~ and I put the babies to bed."

"Good. I'll go and check on them later." Seb sighed as he splashed around to lie more comfortably. Wanda came in and laughed at the sight of her boyfriend. His brown hair, which had grown out a little, was wet and slicked back away from his face as he lounged in the cold water. He sat up and waved at her, the water glistening off his slim chest. Wanda grinned.

Seb saw her look and sighed. "No more. I'm too tired!" He whined.

"...not even a little?" Wanda pouted. Seb shook his head. "No. I can't feel my pelvis." Wanda laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry baby~" She bent down to kiss her poor boyfriend. "Do you need help getting out of the tub?" she asked. Seb whimpered. "Yes."

The two managed to get Seb out and dried off. He was too tired to put his clothes back on (he only managed to put on a robe for decency), and passed out fast asleep on his bed before Wanda could get him to the twins. She sighed fondly. All her babies were asleep now. Well. She laid down beside Seb and smiled as she fluffed the towel around his hair. "Good night Sebas~"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bluefrosty: Hope you enjoyed it! Please comment, we love hearing what you think!


	10. Chapter 9: Ford’s super special and much needed therapy adventures!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ford's magical friend making adventures

Ford wouldn’t say he was… nervous. Not… really. He just… had some concerns about his situation. He sat in front of his computer, hand over the button to call his new therapist for their first session. He should do it. But he just couldn’t… quite push the button. He took his hand away and then placed it back on several times. Come on, he could do this. He could! Ford felt frustrated at himself.

He should build a machine, so when he felt...concerned, the machine pressed the button for him. Yes, yes he should do that! Where was his journal?

He put his laptop aside (great laptop by the way, Fiddleford's devices were starting to sell, quickly overtaking the other personal computers on the market), and started designing.

Luckily for him, Fiddleford knocked on the door. He knew it was Ford's first session and he had to make sure he didn't chicken out. "Stanford? Are you talking to Ashton already?" He slowly pushed the door open and frowned at the sight. Ford had his laptop next to him, closed, and he was happily doodling on his journal. "Shoot the goose and eat it raw! What are you doing Stanford?!" The blond demanded.

Ford jumped startled, but quickly relaxed when he saw it was just Fiddleford. "Hello Fiddleford! I had a great idea! A mechanic hand! For when you don't want to do something! It could even be used for disabled people and people who had accidents!"

Fiddleford deadpanned. "You don't want to call Ashton, do you? Ford, this has a word, fear, and also, Tate told me, it's called procrastination."

Ford hugged his pen to him and pouted. "I'm not procrastinating! I was...distracted...because I swear on TESLA that I was trying to call him! But-But I needed some help…" He said sheepishly.

The blond groaned loudly and opened the laptop to call Ashton. Ford looked away when Ashton's face popped up. "Oh, hi Stanford, Fiddleford...I thought you'd never call me."

Fiddleford stood up dramatically, grabbed Ford's journal (confiscated until further notice) and waved. "Tell Ashton what you were doing!" He turned on his heel and left his friend to his therapy session, closing the door of the lab behind him, leaving Ford alone in front of Ashton. Ford swallowed. “Ah, yes. Hello Dr. Kimbel.”

“I’ve said you could call me Ashton if you want Dr. Pines.” Ashton grinned a bit.

“Well, then please call me Stanford.” Ford flushed, grabbing a chair and seating himself down in front of his laptop. He stared at the man's face for a few seconds before declaring "I don't know what to say...What is the protocol or the right procedure for a therapy?"

Ashton hummed. "Well...I'm not sure, why do you think there must be one?"

Ford shrugged. "Everything has a logical procedure, even weirdness, so of course a therapy must too." Ashton chuckled. “Well generally, I ask about how your day has been.” Ford blinked. “But that has no bearing on my deficiencies?”

“Humor me.” Ashton shrugged. Ford settled more comfortably in his chair and told Ashton about his day. The idea for a mechanical hand he was working on, the patents that he was waiting for confirmations on, the fire that one of the other scientists started that morning…

“And breakfast?” Ashton asked. Ford blinked. “What?”

“What did you have for breakfast?” Ashton asked.

Ford looked away, almost guilty. “Ah, I skipped breakfast this morning.” He admitted. "I did have coffee though."  Ashton raised an eyebrow. “It’s noon.” He said. Ford wiggled in his seat. “Then… I… should get lunch?” His statement sounded more like a question. Ashton didn’t 0laugh at him, but he did nod. “I think lunch would be very good for you right about now.”

“Ah… but I’m supposed to be talking to you?” Ford rubbed his arm. Ashton smiled. “I don’t mind if you got a quick bite to eat. I have nothing else booked today.” Ford nodded sheepishly. “I will go… and get some food then.”

“I shall be waiting for you here.” Ashton assured Ford.

Ford quickly left the office and ran back to the Shack. He looked for something appropriate to eat for lunch. There was a lot of things (Melody only stayed a few times a week but she always kept the pantry and fridge full) and he didn't know what to eat. Fruit? Fruit was appropriate food, right? Vitamins and healthy natural sugar. He grabbed an apple and a banana. That counted as lunch right?

...he also made himself a cup of coffee. Because that was part of a balanced breakfast, and lunch, and dinner, and snack...

Coffee went with everything because it was an elixir of life.

If he got hungry, he could just order something! Food delivery was the best things humans could have thought of! He happily returned to his office where Ashton was reading on the other side of the screen. "I'm back, Dr-erh Ashton. With food." He saw that Ashton had a few sandwiches too. The therapist nodded at Ford. “Welcome back. So, are you the type who prefers fruits or a light meal?”

“Huh? Ah, oh not really. I’m fine with eating pretty much anything.” Ford took a bite of his apple first. "I got used to eating almost anything I could find when Stanley and I were lost in the multiverse…" He shuddered at the memory of some of the stuff they’d been forced to eat to survive. Ah… it made him miss William’s cooking. That kind version of Bill Cipher managed to use alien ingredients to form meals that tasted almost like Earth cooking. Ford hadn’t realized how much he and Stan owed that demon. The scanner to see if food was safe for their consumption had saved their lives multiple times over the years.

Ashton nodded slowly. Right. Space. And traveling through dimensions. Getting confirmation this was a...thing, even though he’d heard of some of this from Fiddleford already, was still shocking.

"Stanley and you seem very close, I guess it's because of how you two had to survive together during your... time in space, no?"

Ford hummed in thought. "Well...I've always gotten along much better with Stanley than with Sebastian  even back when we were kids… But, I mean, it's not like I hated Sebastian or anything, I just… well, it was easier being with Stan, and that's ok, right? I-I don't know why I couldn't get along with Sebastian, we three used to have lots of adventures together as kids, but I don't know, I think _Sebastian_ got weirder? I thought we were finally getting along better, but-but then, I have to admit I...I might have ruined our progress." Ford winced. Once he’d gotten some sleep and calmed down, he was horrified with himself and what he’d almost done. If his theory was right, and Zully WAS indeed Bill Cipher, he would have saved his family from the demon. But if he’d been wrong…

Ford had vomited into the toilet when he’d realized that. He’d felt sick for days afterward.

(He’d even had nightmares of what might have happened if Sebastian hadn’t stopped him in time.)

Ashton nodded slowly. He didn't know much about Ford's other triplet, he'd like to get back to him a little later, but he wanted to know more about Ford for now. "That's unfortunate. If it was that bad, I can see why you finally decided to get help. You don’t want to be cut off from your family. I have an older sister, mind you. We don't live anywhere near each other, but we always try to stay in contact, like you and your family I’m guessing?"

The scientist nodded with a pout. "I DON'T want to lose my family, I can't… I-I've been away for too long and I don't want to be alone again..but it always seems like, like I fuck things up when I try to talk! And I mess up even more when I _don’t_ talk." Ford complained. "I-I couldn't trust my niece a few years ago, if-if I had, if I hadn't pushed her away she would have known about the rift! She didn't like me back then--" Ford knew, he wasnt dumb, Mabel smiled at everybody, that summer when he came back, her smiles always decreased when directed at him. "And, when I was trying to fix things up with Sebastian because I was scared of him being a demon and--"

"Your brother was a demon?" Ashton asked, confused about the sudden shift and wondering if this Sebastian man was mean or cruel and ‘demon’ was some metaphor? Ford summarized his brother's complicated backstory. After that, Ashton still had his doubts, but if Fiddleford had seen the literal face of a demon (mentioned something about seeing Hell beyond the portal) and Ford went through said portal into space, so Ashton guessed the ‘demon’ comment was literal. And that apparently demons could be reincarnated into humans.

Still, it didn't explain much about Ford's fear towards his brother. He only discovered Sebastian was a demon once they were all adults. So what about when they were children? Ford literally just said they played and had adventures together… if Sebastian truly was a reincarnation of a demon, that meant he’d always been a demon, since they were kids. So why did Ford only become afraid once they were all grown up? From the sounds of it, there had been no fear while they were children?

"So, you were angry and scared of your brother when you discovered he was a demon because he pushed you and Stan into the portal, and you, in your ongoing paranoia, was convinced he was helping Bill, the real demon?" Ashton summarized.  Ford nodded and Ashton bit his sandwich.

Alright… "Has your brother wronged you before that moment in any way? Has...Has he hurt you?" The therapist asked softly. If Stanford stopped getting along with his brother as they grew up, then something happened between them. Maybe Sebastian hurt him but Stanford couldn’t recall it? That could be why he had so much trouble getting along again?

Stanford frowned. "Well, he always pushed me as a child and screamed at me...He jumped on my bed to wake me up when he knew I didn't like that and he was tripping over me all the time, and sometimes he...he was a little...suffocating...I wanted to be alone but he was there! Following me around! And well, then was the science fair where he broke my project but...but I'm over it now…" Ford said in a tone that made it clear he hadn’t gotten over it. Ashton closed his eyes to collect himself. There was a lot there to work through.

“He pushed you? Screamed at you? Did you feel threatened when he did so? Did he hurt you? Did he call you names?” Ashton asked to try and get clarification. Ford blinked. “No he never hurt me. He just didn’t understand how rough he was being. I don’t think he realized he was pushing me. And he never called me names. He just spoke loudly.” Ford said.

Ashton paused. “So, he was loud and rowdy?” Ford nodded. “It was very annoying. I don’t know why he couldn’t just be quiet like we all told him to.”

Ashton had to rub his head. “So, does he do this now?” Ford shook his head. “No, he has calmed down since we were children, but sometimes he DOES speak very fast when he gets excited and hit anyone who's closer to him at the moment.”

Ashton resisted the urge to stare at his client incredulously. Did he seriously not realize-- the therapist took a deep breath and let it out slowly before continuing. “So Sebastian, as a child, was rowdy, loud, active--”

“Yes! It was very annoying.” Ford nodded. Ashton gave him a patient look. “Stanford, you just described _most_ young boys.” Ford looked taken aback. “But I never behaved so terribly--”

“I have a son.” Ashton said calmly. “He’s a sweet boy. Around seven years old. He’s very active, loud and loves to run around or smack people to get their attention.”

Ford frowned. “I’m very sorry, he must be quite a handful.”

Ashton raised an eyebrow. “Yes he is. But he’s also behaving perfectly normal for his age. All children are different, but some children are simply more active. They’re full of energy and it bursts out because they haven’t yet learned self control. That is normal.” He said. Ford frowned. “But I was perfectly behaved. Stanley was very active, but even he knew how to stay quiet when our father asked him to. It was only Sebastian who never could.”

“Well I don’t know your brother, maybe tell me more about him. It almost sounds like he might have ADHD.”

Ford's eyes widened a bit. "Oh, yes, he does have that, now that I remember. He told us his therapist diagnosed him with it."

Ashton blinked slowly, waiting for Ford to make the connection. He didn’t. Ashton was struck with the sense that for all his ‘genius’ Stanford was surprisingly bad at making connections. “Do you know what ADHD is?” He asked gently, in case Stanford didn’t actually know what that disorder entailed.

Ford blinked. “It’s a mental disorder. Which makes sense, the demon Bill Cipher was insane, so it stands to reason that if Sebastian still has his memories from back then, he would still be insane--”

At that, Ashton’s eyes widened in horror. Was _that_ what Stanford thought ADHD was? A sign of insanity? He had to correct him. “Stanford, ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It means that your brother **literally** has trouble staying focused, or being able to control his impulses because his brain is physically built different. It’s a neurodevelopmental disorder from his genetics. His brain developed differently from neurotypical people.”

Ford jolted. “Wait, it’s genetic?!” Ford hadn’t looked into ADHD, he’d been too busy and Stanley said Sebastian was getting therapy for it, so Ford thought it was fine so long as he was getting help...

Ashton rubbed his eyes. “There are many things that can cause ADHD. Most of the time, someone is born with the disorder, in fact it shows up more commonly in pre-mature births such as the case with twins, since the early birth might affect the child’s physical development. It can also be caused by abuse or neglect in young infants during their developmental phase. Low birth weight, starvation and even illness and infection in a young child could cause their brains to not develop and grow properly and that can also cause the disorder.” Ashton waved his hands, appalled that Stanford hadn’t looked into the disorder even when he knew his brother had it. “It causes children to be unable to control themselves as their brains fire off signals more than normal. They have to go through years of therapy to learn the self control needed to control their impulses.”

Ford opened his mouth to speak, but he had nothing to say. But...if Seb had this, and-and it caused him to be clumsy and loud… "Then...Then he couldn’t control it? And I was angry at him for…" the sudden weight of guilt crushed him. But, it couldn't be that… right?! Because then...then Ford had called his brother stupid, and-and useless while he was suffering from a condition he was born with... A condition Ford never knew about!

"I'm a horrible person...I'm a horrible brother…" Ford's breathing increased speed just a little. "I-I was annoyed with Sebastian for being sick!?" But Sebastian had been surely acting the way he had just to annoy him!...Right?! Ford had always thought Sebastian was being a pain in the ass on purpose-- "You mean… he...he had never done anything on purpose to me… he had never hurt me and-and I just hated him for being--!!"

“Well I wouldn’t know about that. I don’t know your brother. But if he indeed has ADHD, he would have had many behavioral problems growing up. Restless, inattention, the inability to pay attention or sit still…” Ashton listed off. “It would have been very obvious. If your brother was really behaving as badly as you say, any counselor would have noticed immediately and suggested behavioral therapy to help him learn proper self control.” Ashton frowned. Did no one do that?

"Did your parents know?" Ashton asked.

Ford took a deep breath and shook his head. "N-No...No…" He whispered in a soft voice. "No-No one knew…"

“Shouldn’t they have taken Sebastian to a counselor? Most parents do, not just because of ADHD, there are a whole slew of disorders that elementary school teachers are supposed to look out for so they can inform the parents to have their children examined by a professional…”

"No one… no one liked Sebastian at school…" Ford let out a shaky breath. Was it because of his eye? Or his condition? Oh holy crap, he should have done something, he was such a bad brother, he deserved to die. "The-The teachers couldn't stand him and-and I remember he was forced to sit in the back so he couldn't bother anyone else...and-and I thought that was the right response!" Ford's tears finally made themselves present.

"So none of your teachers told your parents?" Ashton frowned. Because that was very… negligent of them. They were supposed to look out for things like that. Most children who start school would display all sorts of problems that teachers were expected to look out for. Like when kids needed glasses. Teachers were supposed to keep an eye out for signs of poor eyesight or...

"I-I don't know...but Pa always got so angry with Sebastian whenever they were called by the school and...and he hit him!” Ashton’s eyes went wide with horror at that admission. “And I...I didn't do anything to stop that, I didn't want...I didn't want to be hit as well, but Stan didn't care, Stan was stronger and he faced Pa to try and protect Sebastian, but he couldn't do much either…" Ford quickly wiped his tears. "And Seb was always hit because he was always moving and, and at school, the teachers shouted at him! And just, they stopped calling on him, and he was just punished after school and-and WHY DID I THINK THAT WAS NORMAL?!"

Why did he...why did he _still_ think, somehow, deep inside him, that Seb deserved it? For being so weird and clumsy and stupid and a _freak_?!

_'Oh, please, Brainiac~! You want to prove you aren’t just a freakish weirdo like dumb Sebastian right!? You’re SO much better than him~! You’re the intelligent one, remember? Not like dumb ol’ Sebastian. He’s so stupid he can’t even finish his schoolwork! HAH! He's so stupid he tried keeping you down! In the same level as him! As a simple, useless freak! Let's prove dear ol' Pops wrong, shall we?'_

Ford clutched his head. Ashton sat up in worry. “Stanford? Are you alright? Do you need to stop?”

Ford nodded rapidly. He wanted to stop. He wanted to get rid of this voice from his head, he couldn't stand hearing it anymore. It was torture! Why couldn't Bill leave him alone?!!! He was DEAD!

"Stanford, breathe."

Ford nodded, listening to the voice (which sounded NOTHING like Bill’s shrill tone) and he took a deep breath. Bill couldn't do anything to him anymore, he was dead, he was gone.

_"Are you stupid boy?! Are you like your freakish brother?! Do you want to know what happens to useless freaks like him?!" "N-No! No! Please, I'll be better! I'm not Sebastian!!"_

 "I…" He moved his hands a little so he could speak. "I want it to go away...I want the bad voices to leave…" Heavy tears spilled from his cheeks.

Ashton wasn’t sure what this was about yet, but his newest patient clearly had even more issues than he originally thought. “I will help however I can.” He told the scientist whole heartedly.

"Bill still...Bill tells me bad things, bad things I don't want to feel!" Ford punched the table. Ashton nodded slowly. He didn't doubt it. "I promise we will make him leave." Now Ashton needed to work with his patient's paranoia, self-esteem and very rooted problems with childhood, which were clearly linked somehow to his triplet…

The session finished for today, but Ashton continued thinking about his patient all day. And he promised to help. Just like he had been helping Fiddleford.

\----.----

Next session was at the same time so Ford made sure he had food to show Ashton. Abuelita had been in the kitchen though and when he mentioned he was going to grab some food, she told him to get closer and pinched his cheeks.

"No sense, I'm almost ready!" The woman poured him a bowl of very nice looking orange soup, it had long noodles, chicken and carrot slices. "Is a type of pumpkin. You need good eating." Abulita told him. "Grow up to be a big strong boy."

"Um… I'm a grown man…" Ford held the bowl, it did smell quite nice. Abulita patted his cheek. "Eat your soup." She told him, there was a firmness in her gaze, like a sense of… not quite dangerous, but it was like looking up at a mother bear just waiting for you to make a wrong move. Ford meekly went to his lab with his soup. Abulita smiled pleasantly.

Ford set his soup on the table after clearing it of papers and tools and turned on his laptop.

He called his therapist and Ashton smiled at him through the cam. "Hello Stanford. How are you today?"

"I have food." Ford said. "It's pumpkin." He added, feeling somewhat lame. Like a child trying to show off the fact that he DID eat his vegetables so his mom wouldn't nag him about it.

But he also couldn't help but feel happy and proud. He had healthy food, like everyone said he never ate. Now he could prove for a fact that, yes! He did! And it-he took a spoonful to his mouth-ah! And it was amazing!

Ashton smirked. "Well, that's an improvement." Ford took another spoonful and let out a content hum. "This was really good! I had never noticed how nice Abuelita's cooking is!" He commented.

"Is she your grandmother?"

"Oh? No! Um..." Ford thought how to explain his weird living arrangements. "She's the grandmother of Soos, he’s Sebastian's friend who-who moved into the Shack a few years ago…"

"Oh?" Ashton said, looking at him and waiting for him to elaborate. "So he simply moved in with you?"

"Well, kind of. It’s just, while I was gone in the multiverse, Sebastian opened a tourist trap in my house and, somehow managed to create a fake will saying I gave him the house." Ashton frowned a bit. For all Stanford’s talk of not wanting people to know things about him, he was very loose lipped once he got going. "Now it’s not valid anymore, of course, but Sebastian didn't want to close the Shack, and I thought it was fine to keep the place open. So Seb named Soos the new manager. He moved in to check on the Shack and 'to watch over Dr. Pines'" Ford quoted as he rolled his eyes.

"And you like living with them? Why did you accept?" Ashton asked, actually curious.

Ford sipped his soup softly. "Well, I was getting along with Sebastian pretty well, we had just defeated Bill, he was healing, he had his memories back, and he had to leave, he loved the Shack, that's still his business, and I didn't want to… take that away from him." Ford took another spoonful to his mouth. Why did he accept Soos and his grandma again? Letting Soos run the Shack was one thing, but having the two of them moving in was...

It had been pretty awkward the first few months, both for him and Soos, they didn't get to interact much that summer and knew nothing about each other (just that Soos looked like a gopher, but Ford never brought that up again, worried about offending the kind man.)

It did have perks. He got food, and Abuelita was obsessed with cleaning so the house wasn’t dirty. But he didn't know that would happen back when he allowed them in…

"Maybe...Maybe I felt...bad, and that's why I accepted." Ford finally said in a very vague way. Ashton asked why he felt bad.

Stanford rubbed his arm, embarrassed. "Remember...I-I told you about Seb being a demon?" Ashton nodded tiredly. Yes, once again this was related to Sebastian.

"Well, we-I--" Ford winced. He was still regretting being so mean to Sebastian. "We had been fighting a lot that summer, even after he’d spent 13 years fixing the portal to get me and Stan back. I told him I...I wanted him out of my house and-and to take off everything from the Shack… I think I let Soos stay because OF Seb, I wanted to... feel better after what I did… what I said to him." Ford shrugged a little. “I guess I thought that maybe I’d feel better if he got to keep the Shack, and the townspeople all seemed sad at the idea of the Shack closing so I didn’t want to disappoint them.”

Ashton nodded. "You get along with Soos?" Ford shrugged. "We don't really talk much, but I don't think we get along _bad_ ." Ford finished his soup."He uses some of my ideas for attractions too, we tells the tourists they come from the research center." The therapist laughed.

"Alright… so how long have you known Fiddleford?" Ashton knew, he just wanted to hear Ford talk.

"Oh, since college! We were roommates." Ford smiled. "He's a very good friend."

"Oh, I can imagine, he worries a lot for you...and do you ever go out with him? Maybe with some other friends as well? What do you do for fun with your friends?"

Ford shrugged a bit. "I don't have other friends…" He and Stan knew Rick from their time through the multiverse, but he doubted that drunk scientist considered them his friends. "But I really don't need them, I work and I don't have time to go out, it would just mess with my job, like having kids." He shuddered a bit. His brothers were brave for having them. He loved his niblings but he didn't have to _raise_ them! He couldn't imagine himself with kids, let alone 2! He knew NOTHING about children, he wasn't made for that!

"Haven't you tried talking with your other colleagues? Maybe there's someone who’s caught your attention?" Ashton poked a bit, trying to get a handle on Ford’s social life, because from what he was hearing right now, it seemed really… lonely. Ford blinked.

"Dr. Wexler is a very intelligent woman?" He tried. Ashton stared. “So, you don’t have any friends aside from Fiddleford? Do you hang out with the other scientists? Outside of work?” Ford frowned and shook his head. “No, I’m… I’m always working. If I’m not in the lab, I’m out hiking the forest to find new samples.”

“....Do you have any hobbies you do for fun?” Ashton asked, worried now.

“Oh. I play D, D and more D… well, when I can find someone to play with me that is.” Ford blushed a little at this. But Ashton didn’t make fun of him for that nerdy hobby, in fact he looked relieved.

"Alright ok, great… Do you play any sports?" Ford made a so-so gesture with his hand. "I train in the morning when I have time and I'm good at fighting, but no, I never did any sport, Stanley is the sportsman." 

Ashton nodded and stared and Ford. "And you think what you do is something ok to do?" Stanford didn't have a healthy routine, he was an extreme workaholic, didn't eat regularly unless someone prompted him, barely talked with his colleagues and didn't try to involve in social activities. That was… going to need to be addressed.

Ford looked at Ashton. "...I have the feeling that you want me to say 'no'..." He said carefully. Ashton rubbed his eyes. "I don't want you to say anything, all I want is to know if you think it's fine what you do, and why you think so."

 Ford blinked. “I’m fine. I get work done. I’m not distracted by frivolities.” He thought it was fine that way. He had so many things to do. He was building a solar powered generator for the Center, to cut down on the electricity bills right now!

"Do you think hanging out with friends is a frivolity?" Ashton asked and Stanford shrugged. "What's the point of that? You aren't doing anything productive and it sounds boring…" He shrugged a bit, pulling at his sixth finger. "And how do you even know if your so called friends aren't trying to use you?! Fiddleford was my roommate and that was different, we spent a lot of time together but I don't trust anyone else to-" He considered. "And I didnt want a therapist because I'm just telling you my entire life and I don't know what you might do! And I shouldn't trust you! But Fiddleford trusts you and I don't have any other choice!"

Ashton didn't even blink when Ford screamed. "Do you think that if you make another friend, they'll try to do something to you? That's why you don't trust people to be your friends?"

"Yes! Because I can't stand not knowing people's intentions! Seb-Sebastian had a friend who was an asshole to him, he talked bad about him and called him names because of his hand and eye! And I don't want that to happen to me! Never again--” Ford shuddered at the memory of Bill. His dear muse who Ford had trusted so much... “Of _course_ I tried making friends as a kid! But no one wanted to! Because I was a FREAK! Like-Like we already established! So I stopped BOTHERING! And then when I met Bill and he wanted to be my friend and… and then he betrayed me!"

Ashton stared at Ford when he ran a hand through his hair. "And of course, he was just using me! All the nice things he said to me weren't true, and he also told me bad things about my family to convince me the portal was for _me_ to be great. He _tricked_ me.... He was just like...everybody who talked to me before…" Ford angrily moved his spoon on his empty bowl.

"Every person who talked to you wanted to hurt you?" Ashton asked softly and Ford nodded. "Of course. At school and college. They just approached me because they wanted something from me or to bother me...Of course it wasn't the same with the teachers, they appreciated me, but it only made the other kids think worse of me! So I had no way of escaping! One day they wanted you to explain them math, but the next day they ignored you and didn't invite you anywhere. And I know you might be thinking 'I didn't try hard enough' but I did, it was just my _hands_ ! Because Sebastian, Sebastian was ALWAYS trying to make friends, but the kids didn't like him either! And those who claimed they did, just humiliated him! Or just straight out insult him! And I wasn't going to go through that too! I could avoid it!! So I didn’t care about their stupid parties or meetings! About going out with people who could easily be talking shit about me later! Or when they only chose me as a group partner because they wanted to use me! I had better things to do! And I’m definitely _better_ than those stupid morons and their stupid birthday parties and gossiping and DRAMA!!"

Ford finished his rant, loudly gasping for air.

Ashton calmly took a sip of his tea. “So, paranoia, yes? I’m not saying it’s not justified, but here’s something that I need you to understand.” Ford sat heavily in his chair and frowned. Ashton sighed. “Children are dicks.” Ashton said simply. “Especially if they haven’t been taught right from wrong. I’m sure you’ve met some awful people when you were a child, but here’s the thing, children grow up. Some of them never learn right from wrong. Some of them never learn to be a good person. But that’s how it is with humans. And you shouldn’t write off all everyone you don’t know as a potential enemy just because they ‘could’ betray you. Humans require social interaction, even the most introverted of people still need to spend some time with people.”

"I don't like that. I prefer being on my own." Ford complained childishly. Ashton hummed. "You do? You'd be fine in a secluded place? All alone without seeing anyone?"

"Very much." The scientist grumbled stubbornly. "I don't like depending on people."

"So you'd be fine without seeing your family ever again? Being completely on your own? Locked up somewhere with your research?"

Ford pursed his lips. "Well… no… I like being with my family… playing D, D and more D with Dipper and… talking to Fiddleford too, and his family is nice…" Ashton grinned. "Then you see? You also need people, especially your family."

The therapist slowly hit his pencil against his fingertips as he thought. "Can I make a guess? Tell me if I'm wrong." He waited for Stanford to nod before slowly phrasing his thoughts. He liked to use his triplet as comparison for some reason? Fine, he could work with that for now until he discovered why he did that in the first place. "Soos was Sebastian's friend, right?" Ford nodded. "What's stopping you from being his friend too? Or any person who works in the center? Do they care about your six fingers?"

Ford grabbed his pinky and looked down. "...No, I-I don't think so...One, one scientist even mentioned once that-that he...he admired me…" That made him feel good.

"Uh huh, so, if the problem isn't your hands in this case, then why not try becoming friends? My question is this: don't you think that, because of your deep fear of being rejected, you are also accidentally shutting off _potential friends_?"

"But what if they don't want to be friends? What if they just want something from me??!!"

"But what if they do?" Ashton smiled kindly. "I know you have trouble trusting, that's what paranoia is _about_ , but what I want you to see is that, you can't always know _everything_ , life is like that. We slowly build friendships, over time, after knowing those people better! There are many assholes in this world, I won't deny it, but there are also good people out there who would want to be friends if you gave them a chance~" Ashton explained.

Ford rubbed his arm. "We-Well...There were...these kids I played D,D and more D with when I was a kid...They...They made meetings outside our games, like, to eat pizza and play videogames and that stuff...but I never went to them…"

"And why is that?" The man asked Ford patiently.

"Because...Because I thought I wasn't invited…" Ford whispered with a frown. He had never considered going as an option! He only played with them, but he never thought they'd want him outside their D, D and more D games...If, if he had decided to go, who could tell if they would have mocked him? What if he HAD been invited as well, and he could have had friends! He could have met them better, eat pizza and talk about many other stuff, instead of going back home, thinking about how much he didn't care that they were having pizza without him...

Ford paused. “Wow. I am very sad.” He said simply. Ashton nodded solemnly. “And that’s why we’re here.” Ford groaned and buried his face in his hands. “So… you want me to go out and… talk to people? Make friends?” Ford asked quietly. Ashton raised an eyebrow. “I’m not making you do anything. It’s up to you.”

Ford thought about it. “The other scientists at the Center all admire me.” He said quietly. “And none of them have ever brought up my hands in a way that was insulting…” He rubbed at his face. “I guess… I can try… talking to them more?”

“Well, the final decision is up to you, but I do recommend you try to get to know more people..” Ashton told him gently.

Ford slumped  in his chair. He hated socializing. It was so hard!

\---.----

Stanley laughed at him when Ford told his brother he was planning out how to talk to some of his colleagues. Specifically, Stan was laughing about the long list of things Ford had written in order to attempt said socialization. Stan, feeding Diego some baby food, had snorted so hard he knocked the plate off the table and onto the floor. Diego stared sadly at his lost food. Nooo his orange goop!

"You're overreacting, Ford! You don’t need some checklist to talk to people. You’re all nerds right? Just talk about nerd stuff.” Stan told him. Diego tried reaching for his food, but from his high baby chair, it was useless. He closed his eyes in grief when mommy groaned and started cleaning it up.

"Um, do you think we can be friends just talking about science?" Ford asked in a quiet voice. Stan sighed fondly. So dumb. The dumbest genius. "You don't make friends just like that, talking about things you have in common is a great way to start though! You'll do fine~ Hey! Where's the kid's food?!"

Diego narrowed his eyes at daddy. He “Hmph!”ed and kicked his little legs. Mommy was petting his curly hair while rolling her eyes. “I’ll go get more.”

So Ford decided to spend some time at the Center's lounge to watch the scientists there. The place had couches, and a small kitchen in case someone wanted to use a microwave (it was prohibited to put experiments there, dammit Arnold we told you four times already), or make themselves some coffee.

The number of people working here had increased a lot, and he was proud that more people chose to work here. The problem was that he didn't know any of these people, and it made everything harder. It was comforting to know that every single one of these people had gone through a strict psychological exam and were only the best from the best. So at least they weren't that bad to begin with.

A woman entered the lounge, stretched, threw her lab coat to one couch and marched up to her locker to take out her lunch. Ford could recognize her, she was from the first batch of applicants to join the Center. What was her name again… he knew she was Dr. Wexler, but what was her first name?

Dr. Wexler closed her locker, holding a small microwave safe container and turning on her heel to make a beeline to said microwave. Ford was still staring at her as he tried to subtly look at her name tag. It was on a lanyard around her neck, the Identification card was right over her chest. Ford shifted over and stared at it, trying to read her name.

“Is there a reason you’re staring at my chest Dr. Pines?” The woman asked, raising an eyebrow. Ford flushed and waved his arms. “N-no I’m just- you--” Ford tried to explain himself and keep himself from running away, he already started bad!! “Your name is there and I couldn’t see it and--” Ah! This was so embarrassing! He should have brought his checklist! Abort! ABORT!!! “I have to go! Science stuff! Good bye!” Ford said as he turned on his heel and marched stiffly away.

“Wait, Dr. Pines!” Dr. Wexler called out. Ford almost didn’t stop. But she didn’t sound angry so…

Ford turned, instinctively folding his hands behind his back. “A-ah, yes?” He stammered.

Dr. Wexler took her food out of the microwave, popped the lid open and poured some coffee into it. “My name’s Amy Wexler. You could have asked. Goodness knows I’m having trouble keeping track of people’s names.” She said while stirring the very inedible looking concoction in her tupperware. Ford glanced down at it, horrified and fascinated all at once. Was there ground beef in there? “It’s very nice to meet you Dr. Wexler. Amy. Amy Wexler. Can I call you Amy, wait, no, Dr. Wexler is better. Right. Yes. You must have studied hard for your title-it-it's more formal, yes.” truly, Ford was the epitome of grace and charm.

Dr. Wexler raised an eyebrow even as she finished stirring coffee into her… was that some sort of lasagna(?) and then opened one of the half and half creamers cups to pour in as well. “I suppose Dr. Wexler is fine. Did you wish to speak with me, Dr. Pines?” She asked, now adding sugar and… ketchup(?!) to her increasingly toxic looking lunch. Ford was actually getting worried now. He didn’t know much about food, but he was quite sure what she was making there was going to be awful.

“Oh, it’s-- I was just--” Ford didn’t know how to respond to that. “I was just hoping to--” He watched her open a packet of soy sauce and drizzle that in too and he just couldn’t hold back anymore.

"-to know what you're doing, holy Axolotl…" Ford muttered as he stared at the slop that was once food in horror. Dr. Wexler actually smirked. "Lunch!" She all but chirped. Ford held back a gag. “Ah. I see…” He knew there was an examination before scientists were hired for the Center. So she must be quite brilliant. But… but…

And Dr. Wexler took out a spoon, carefully scooped out a tiny bit of the ‘thing’ she made and took it up to her mouth. Ford watched, unable to look away. She placed it in her mouth, eyes going wide and turning to spit it out into the kitchen sink. “Oh that is awful!” she said (cheerfully?!) as she straightened back up, pulling out a thermos and gulping down the contents.

“Ah… well. Not to insult your culinary skills,” Ford had heard that apparently women (and his brothers) hated having their cooking insulted “But I’m sure mixing all those things together would be quite awful to the taste buds.” He wasn’t sure why she looked so happy though. Dr. Wexler laughed. “Well it needs to be awful!” She said matter of factly. Ford blinked, not quite understanding. “Um. Oh, okay?”

Dr. Wexler looked almost giddy as she went back to her lab coat and pulled out a small vial from one of the pockets. She had her phone out in her other hand, typing something down. “Experiment 22. Altering the receptors.” She mumbled as she quickly jotted down on her phone. Under Ford’s curious eyes, she opened the vial and carefully dripped a small droplet onto her tongue. She smacked her lips together, moving her tongue around to spread the substance all over it before she turned to Ford and grinned. Never breaking eye contact, she spooned out some of the sludge and placed it in her mouth, this time she hummed in appreciation before digging in to her meal with gusto.

“It tastes like strawberries now! Everything tastes like strawberries now!” Dr. Wexler said happily. She was glad that it worked. She’d tried this with several other types of food but she needed something truly vile to really see the results of her experiment.

Ford gaped, his mouth so wide his jaw could have dislodged. And finally, after seeing the woman eat half of the thing she created, he finally came out of his stupor. "That, that's amazing!" He gasped, with a huge grin on his face.

Dr. Wexler chuckled. “Yup. I’m working on making this stuff into a type of drink. If I can get more flavors working, I was thinking of marketing it as an easy way to get children to eat their vegetables. Or getting people to eat more healthy foods by making them taste like something else.” She looked quite proud of herself. “I’ve mainly made various fruit flavors so far. Still hoping to make a fried chicken flavor at some point but it’s still a work in progress.”

"Woah…" Ford whispered. "Fascinating…" He stared at the horrible mess. If she could fix the taste of the vile creation, she will surely conclude her experiment. "That would have been a godsend out in space, when we had to eat a lot of very nasty food." He commented. Ford was very hush about his time in the multiverse, but the scientists knew about the portal, Fiddleford briefed them about it, as well as warned them all to never attempt to rebuild it. They all treated the broken pieces as some sort of valuable antique. Dr. Wexler raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Was space food really that bad?” She asked as she walked out of the room and towards a larger dining hall like area where many other scientists and workers were sitting down for their own lunches.

Ford followed her. “Well, they weren’t all bad. But there were certainly some unique flavors out there. A lot of sour food. Though that might have been because a lot of things are acidic out there but, well, we survived so it wasn’t too bad…”

Ford ended up sitting at a table with her and several other scientists. Dr. Wexler introduced them to him. “Ah, these are my friends. That’s Dr. Arjun Poddar--”

The dark skinned man grinned and waved. “Hello Dr. Pines. Fancy seeing you here. Guess that means you DO get hungry sometimes.” The man turned to the man beside him. “Oi Brucy you owe me $20.” The other man, whom Dr. Wexler introduced as Dr. Bruce Clark, rolled his eyes, grumbled and pulled out the cash. “There goes my theory that the boss just IV drips the nutrients into himself…” Dr. Clark muttered. Ford blinked. That was… actually an amazing idea!

Dr. Wexler glared at the two as Ford managed a small smile. "No, unfortunately I do eat, but you gave me an idea!" He should try it!

The last man, eating a pudding, shook his head. "Don't listen to the dumb ideas of these two, Dr. Pines, eating is much better, and more delicious!" He hummed happily at his chocolate treat. Ford knew his name was Jerald, but he couldn't remember if that was his given name or last name! Aahh!? Why didn't Dr. Wexler introduce him too?!

"So whatcha doing here among us mortals, Dr. Pines? I haven't seen you in a while." Dr. Clark asked. Ford rubbed the back of his head when he had the four scientists stare at him, analyzing him, questioning him, judging him--

"Are you working on something at the moment?" Dr. Jerald asked too. "I'd love to have your opinion on my latest project." and Ford couldn’t help but feel a little proud about that. They wanted to look to HIM for help? Well. That was only to be expected, he was technically their boss after all. “I’m just working on making a mechanical arm that can perform tasks for you. Perhaps hooking up the sensors to nerve endings so it could function as a working prosthetic…”

“Like in Partial Alloy Chemist?!” Dr. Clark asked eagerly. Dr. Jerald smacked him lightly on the arm. “Nerd~” He teased good naturedly. Ford blinked at them. “What?”

“Nothing. Just a stupid anime.” Dr. Jerald rolled his eyes as Dr. Clark gasped and placed a hand on his chest. “It’s NOT a stupid anime! It’s one of the best! The symbolism! The commentary on the nature of War and the human condition--” Dr. Jerald and the others all rolled their eyes. Not this again.

Ford listened to the man talk and talk, but while he understood what he was talking about, he had no idea what anime he was referring to. Ford never really watched shows anymore. "What do you think, Dr. Pines?!" Ford blinked and looked back at him. "Excuse me?"

"Don't torment him with your animes!" Dr. Poddar groaned. Ford nervously played with his sixth finger. "Well, I can't give you my opinion, I have never watched this...anime. I don't really follow series or-or watch TV."

Dr. Clark gasped horrified. "Whaaaat?! But there are so many good shows on Nexflit!" He whined. He was a fan of movies and series. Practically a cinephile.

"No one has your time to procrastinate, Bruce." Dr. Poddar made a 'duh' face and Dr. Clark gasped, offended. "Excuse me!? I work hard! But I also want to live my life!" He looked back at Ford. "You should totally look up Partial Alloy Chemist! It’s such a cool show!” Ford nodded slowly, not really planning on doing that. He had way too much work to do. “Right, maybe when I have time.”

“So what’s your lunch Dr. Pines?” Dr. Jerald asked, chewing on his own sandwich. He brushed the crumbs off his mustache. Ford flushed as he realized he didn’t bring a lunch today. “I, ah, need to go and…” He looked over at the Cafeteria, they had food here. Freshly prepared and ready for people to grab and eat. Fiddleford had insisted on this being part of the facilities for the Center and Ford was very glad his friend had done so. “I’m going to go grab something.” He told them before stiffly walking away. He hoped he wasn’t being too awkward!

As Ford walked out of earshot, Dr. Poddar turned to Dr. Wexler “I can’t believe the boss is actually here! I haven’t seen him since Orientation week! And that time he brought his family on a tour of the place!” Dr. Wexler shrugged. “Yeah, surprised me too. I guess he’s probably shy or something.”

They all nodded. That was kind of adorable. Well, as weird as it was to call a 30-40 something year old man adorable. But he was! Most of the scientists working here (both men and women) secretly agreed together that their mysterious boss, the great Dr. Pines, was absolutely adorable. They’d never say it to his face of course, he was the one sending them their paychecks after all.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'll convince him to watch anime." Clark smirked and his friends all groaned.

"I wonder why he's suddenly here? Will he have lunch with us from now on? That would be cool, we could talk about our work with him." Dr. Jerald hummed, stroking his chin in thought. Dr. Wexler shrugged. “It’d be nice. But the poor guy looks so spooked. Like a scared owl.” When he wanted to see her name, she actually felt bad for scaring him. He almost ran away!

"That's because Bruce scared him with anime!" Dr. Poddar laughed and Dr. Clark nudged him. “I wasn’t scaring him!”

Ford finally returned with some food and stared at the group. "Um...I brought some food now…" His tray had a single apple and a bowl of oatmeal.

"Is that like, a snack before real lunch?" Dr. Clark whispered (there was so little food! He was hungry at the thought of only eating so little) and was nudged by Dr. Poddar.

"Well, I'm not very hungry right now." Ford explained as he quietly sat down. Dr. Clark shrugged, but he was still shocked. He guessed Stanford HAD to eat at some point, he was very tall and not skinny at all. (Actually, he was kinda jealous of the doc’s muscles, like daaaaaamn~) The group ate quietly for a bit before Dr. Poddar brought up, “So I noticed we didn’t get to finish the introductions?”

“Oh right.” Dr. Wexler gestured to the last guy at the table. “That’s Jerald. Dr. Jerald. Jerald Jerald. That’s his name.”

“That is NOT my name!” Dr. Jerald whined. Everyone else laughed, Dr. Wexler even thumped him on the back with a fond smile, they were never going to let this inside joke go. It was simply too funny. Ford waited but no one actually gave him Dr. Jeralds real full name. And Ford was too timid to ask.

He squinted, but Dr. Jerald wasn't wearing his identification. So Ford guessed he'd have to call him Dr. Jerald until he knew his full name. No big deal.

"So…" Ford stared at his food. What was a general question he could ask? "Where are you from? Um, I'm from New Jersey…"

"Really? Huh, who would have known?" Dr. Poddar smiled. "I was born in India, but my family came here when I was a child."

Dr. Wexler smiled. "I'm from Maine. Though I lived in New York for a good portion of my life before coming here."

Dr. Clark shrugged. “Boston.” He said simply.

Dr. Jerald wiped his mouth with a napkin before speaking. “I’m from Virginia.”

“Woo! Diversity!” Dr. Clark cheered, giving Dr. Poddar a high five.

Ford nodded. But now he didn’t know what else to say to keep the conversation going. Ah… well, when all else failed, talk about SCIENCE! ...is what he meant to do, but when Ford opened his mouth to ask if anyone else was excited for the next test of their collider in a few days, he instead blurted out, “I like watching atoms smash together!” Everyone stared at him and Ford wanted to die right there.

"Well, that's a pretty cool process I have to admit!" Dr. Jerald hummed. He had never seen it that way. "It's like a battle! Fighting for their atomic lives!" Dr. Clark exclaimed, excited as ever.

"I think people forget just how freaking important atoms are, we wouldn't be here without them." Dr. Wexler took another bite of her food before spitting it back. "GAH!! THE EFFECT IS GONE!" She wailed in agony and stole Dr. Poddar's drink to gulp it all down. Everyone started laughing, even Ford though he tried not to, mocking others wasn't nice. Dr. Wexler typed out on her phone. “Okay, so… effect lasts around twenty minutes. Will need to work on that…” She muttered. Dr. Poddar pouted at his now empty cup. “I’ll go get another drink…” He sighed as he got up to get a refill.

Dr. Clark stared at Ford's cup. "What's your favorite coffee? If I work, I like Americano, but if I’m simply drinking to enjoy it, I love cappuccinos!"

"I don't have a favorite type, as long as it has a lot of sugar, I've always had a thing for sweets…" Ford admitted. Also, the sugar is just extra energy to keep him going.

"Sweet tooth, huh?" Dr. Wexler smiled. That was adorable indeed. "You looked more like a bitter coffee type."

Ford rubbed the back of his head, smiling. "I've been told, but my triplets and I really like sweet things, though Stanley prefers salty." He shuddered. The one time Stan took them out to try sushi… Stan had poured soy sauce over his food and Ford clearly remembered the looks of absolute horror on everyone’s faces (both the other guests and the staff!)

Dr. Jerald chuckled. "How are your brothers by the way?" Ford wiggled in his seat. “They’re doing well. Raising their kids. The usual.”

"Aaw~ You must have a lot of niblings~" Dr. Clark said. "My girlfriend only has one and he's a jerk!"

“Yes. There’s Mason, Mabel, Dillon, Diego, Zoe and… Zully…”

The group didn't notice his volume dropping. "Haha, two from each brother, that’s so cute! An equal number of boys and girls!" Dr. Jerald smiled

“I love their lettered names. It’s adorable!” Dr. Wexler cooed. “So what would your kids be if you ever had any?” She asked. Ford shrugged. “I don’t really know. Never thought about kids. Don’t particularly want any.” Because he knew nothing about raising children! He’d probably mess up.

"Oh, that's alright." Dr. Wexler smiled. "I don't know if I want any either but I always loved the name Annie." Dr. Clark raised a finger. "And it is was a boy, Annie'o!" The ginger woman rolled her eyes. She was surrounded by idiots...

Ford wiggled in his seat. "If I had to choose...It would be hmm...Nicholas?" He liked the name Nicholas. He didn’t feel like following the naming convention of the rest of his family.

Dr. Poddar nodded solemnly. "Genius. Like our god." Ford laughed, actually laughed and nodded. "Only the best~"

The group talked for a bit longer, Ford was very entertained listening to their stories, until they sadly declared they had to go back to work. "Work calls!" Dr. Poddar patted Ford’s shoulder. “It was very nice talking with you Dr. Pines.”

Ford remained seated watching the four scientists go. He sighed. Well, he couldn't say he didn't try… Dr. Wexler turned around. "Would you like to eat lunch with us tomorrow as well? we didn't finish discussing solutions to Dr. Jerald’s robotics mobility between tight spaces problem!"

The curly haired man beamed and nodded quickly. "That would be nice…" They left and Ford let out a relieved sigh. Yes!! Now he could tell Ashton that he had spoken with some colleagues and that they didn’t immediately mock him! Yes! Socialization success!

\---

“Do you enjoy hanging out with them?” Ashton asked in their next session a few days later. Ford thought about it. “Yes. They’re nice. I… like talking with them, they have very interesting projects and its nice listening to them.” It was nicer especially once Fiddleford started sitting with them as well. Ashton smiled. “That’s wonderful.” Especially since this meant Ford had to eat lunch regularly, since they met up to each lunch together.

Ashton could tell that Ford was starting to trust him a little more. Frankly, the man was actually very trusting. He was simply too afraid to open up himself to do so. Well, getting Ford to want to open up was only step one. Ashton was a little worried about what he might learn from Ford once the man began telling him more…

He sighed. One problem at the time. Ashton decided to start applying a psychological evaluation to see just how intense Ford's paranoia was. As it was easier to talk to him now (which was lucky, most people with paranoia couldn't trust their doctors and therefore made treatment much more difficult) then it would be easier to make the test. Of course he didn't tell Stanford that he was testing him so all the answers he got from him were genuine.

The results Ashton got were evident, and confirmed what he already knew. His patient, excuse him, _client_ , struggled a lot to trust people, preferred being alone and really thought people were after him to harm or deceive him. It came from severe self esteem issues (which Ashton still didn't know the origin of, Ford hasn't opened up to him like that yet), and the intensity increased after the demon that haunted Fiddleford's dreams for years, betrayed him. All associated to panic attacks and anxiety. Ashton wanted to unfold Stanford's complex mind. He theorized everything bothering Stanford, his paranoia, his fear of socializing, his lack of ability to talk to others, all had the same root, but _what_ ?

Ford couldn't believe it at first when Ashton told him he had anxiety. He really couldn't have the same thing Seb had...could he? Plus he knew he had paranoia since… forever. But the evidence was right there and he couldn't deny it. "So, how is this cured?"

Ashton looked down at his notepad. "Well, Stanford, first of all, we will work with social and communication skills, yes? I am quite glad you have started talking to more people at the center, that's amazing! The anxiety is mainly caused by your other issues and if we treat those you’d probably get better on your own on that front. But paranoia can affect your normal interpersonal interactions if we don't work on that, ok? We'll work with something called psychotherapy, just...talking."

"That's it?" Ford asked curious. "And learning to talk will help me trust more?"

"I remember you mentioned you think you 'mess things up' when you talk to people." Ashton nodded when Ford winced on his seat. "Don't you think learning and talking together until you find a way to manage your life and raise your self-esteem will help you when you interact with others?"

"...I guess…" Ford grumbled. He did want to feel better. If he felt better about himself, then he wouldn't have to think everyone was after him to hurt him.

"And also, I'll prescribe you some pills through a short period to treat your anxiety until you get over it on your own." Ford gasped, shocked. "Pills?! But! But no! I-I don't need _pills_ !"

"Stanford, you get excessively worried, stressed and overthink. Your anxiety fits perfectly with your paranoia and you can't ignore that." Ashton smiled softly. "It won't be too long, it's complementary to psychotherapy, alright? Can you trust me to help you?"

"Do I have any other choice?" Stanford grumbled.

He complained to Fiddleford as soon as the blond was free. Fiddleford groaned. "Just obey Ashton, he knows what's good for you."

Stanford also complained to Stanley, who basically told him the same, but less kind and with more curses. "You know what you're doing?! You're losing time! That's what! Instead of complaining to ME, why don't you just take the freaking pills?! Sebastian took his pills too and he's getting better! That could be you too!"

"But this makes me look like I'm insane! And-And I just need help to stop thinking about demons…"

"Oh." Stan said softly. "Oh, oh then if you only want that, I think I know what you should do…"

"What?" Ford asked desperately.

"TAKE YOUR FUCKING PILLS!" Stan screamed and hung up. He was stern with his brother about this subject and will take no shits regarding his treatment.

Ford sighed and glared at the small bottle with pills. No one supported him! Not fair! He sighed again and laid on the floor. "How did Seb even do this? Isn't he afraid?" He spun the bottle, bored. It'd been a week and he hadn't taken any.

Seb didn't want to take them at the beginning  but then he did...Ford wished he could talk to his brother, but he was too much of a chicken and Seb was still surely angry at him.

Ford closed his eyes and sighed and suddenly his mind was illuminated. Seb might not be helping right now, but there was a memory of him that Ford recalled clearly.

_"Lookie~ My pills sucked until I had the brilliant idea to put them in order in a box with spacers! One for each day! And it goes with N &Ns as a reward! Genius huh?" Seb squealed, proud of himself for finding a way to take his medication. _

Ford had thought it was kind of silly at the moment, but right now, it was the most brilliant idea he had heard till now. He got a box with spacers too and put his pills in each little space, along with two jelly beans, everything perfectly organized. Each week had a different color of deliciousness and the box looked like a rainbow. Ford felt a little silly but, if this could work then… he would do it.

To his brother, friend, and therapist's relief, Ford started taking his pills. Fiddleford had to talk to every store in town to not sell Stanford jelly beans (the bastard realized he could get jelly beans without taking his pills), but after that little arrangement, it became a routine.

Fiddleford was glad when Soos proudly informed him that Ford hadn't woken up screaming or had a panic attack after he started his treatment...

\----.--

Ashton was having a little trouble keeping a straight face. He’d finally gotten Ford to talk more about his childhood after several months of therapy and… frankly, he was having trouble holding himself back from taking a plane to Jersey to kick Filbrick between the legs. An abusive monster like that doesn’t deserve children!

From what Ashton was piecing together, everything problematic with Ford boiled down to something his father had done to him. And now everything made so much sense!! Ford’s low self esteem? Filbrick insulted and pressure Ford all through his childhood, to be better to 'make up' for his hands. Ford’s relationship problems with Sebastian? Filbrick always threatened Ford to do better and be ‘perfect’ if he didn’t want to be treated like that ‘Freak brother of yours!’. Everything always came down to something Filbrick had done. Ford had watched his father beat the shit out of Sebastian for not ‘behaving properly’ for ‘being clumsy’ for ‘being stupid’ for ‘being a freak’ and Ford had taken to constantly comparing himself with Sebastian, with trying to be ‘better’ than his triplet just so he wouldn’t be punished by their father as well.

Ashton rubbed his face. Yeah… how the hell that awful man hadn’t been arrested for child abuse was...

He looked up at Ford with a very sad expression well hidden by a masked neutral face. The scientist was trying not to cry and he was hiding his face behind his hands. "I am so disgusting...I shouldn't have listened to him, no?! I-I was a horrible brother! I let him hurt Seb! And I didnt do anything! I supported him! Why did I think that?! What kind of-of monster I am?!!"

Ashton sighed. "Stanford, you can't blame yourself for what that di-for what your father did to you and your brother…" The therapist winced. He hoped Sebastian was getting help too. If the man's words affected Ford like this, he didn't want to imagine how Fords triplet felt after-after all that torture!

"No, no, I did it all myself! I should have been better!!" Ford sobbed.

"Stanford, it wasn't your fault. It was your Father. You were a child, it wasn’t your responsibility to stop your father." Frankly, why hadn’t anyone stepped in to do something about this? But that was then, and this is now. From what Ford had told him, none of them had seen their father in years. Their mother had finally divorced her husband and no one had so much as spoken or written a letter to that man ever since.

Good. Avoiding contact was the best they could do, unless and until the brothers were ready to face him again.

Stanford sobbed and wiped his tears with his sleeve, his glasses had fallen to the floor but he didn't care. "I-I didn't know...I-How could he have done that to me?!" The scientist sobbed. It was Filbricks fault! Ford couldn't even remember-! He couldn't remember when had he ever felt normal or comfortable with himself! When had he ever truly loved his brothers without trying to compare himself to them!

"Bill-Bill used that against me!" Ford sobbed. "I didn't know how much I cared but _he_ did! He used to make me work harder by telling me that I had to prove I wasn’t a worthless mess like my brother was!”

Ashton watched him. Ford angrily threw a bunch of papers to the floor. He was angry, he was furious!! How could he have been SO blind!! He-He let Filbrick's words affect him, he let them guide his words and actions...And he felt so dumb...thinking his father cared for him...that he was trying to _help_...

_"So you took my book to read?" "I'm sorry, daddy...But I was curious! It didn't have pictures like our books!" "Well, at least you are intelligent…" "I'm intelligent?! You think so?" Ford watched Dad stare at one of his hands. "Yes, and that's good, because if you are intelligent, then your deformed hands don't matter." Ford stared at his little fingers.  
_

“He never cared about me. He just wanted me to prove myself to him, or else I wasn’t even worth having!” Ford was slumped over his desk at this point, about to curl up in a ball. Ashton was texting Fiddleford to ask if he knew anything about Ford’s family life (to try and see if anyone, ANYONE had noticed the abuse happening in that household). Fiddleford didn’t know much about Ford’s father, though he had heard about their mother, and the brilliant man quickly put together what Ashton wasn’t saying and correctly figured out that Ashton had just learned something awful about Ford’s father. The mechanic decided he would build a robot to spy on and attack Filbrick Pines if that man turned out to be a problem, laughing only a little manically at the thought. (He was still sort of insane, just a little…)

Ford covered his face with his hands. He had never felt so mentally exhausted. This was a very revealing conversation but it hurt, it hurt so much…What-What was he supposed to do now? He just realized his father had damaged his head, even before Bill had ever entered his dreams! "Why didn't he like me.." Ford asked quietly. Ashton pressed his eyes closed, a pained expression on his face. "Because some people are assholes, and he didn't deserve you or your siblings."

"How do I stop thinking like him?!" Ford sniffled. Ashton gave him a sympathetic look. “You’d have to keep in mind that such thoughts aren’t healthy and remind yourself over and over that you shouldn’t think like that. There’s no easy fix for this, you’ve suffered years of abuse during your formative years as a child. It’ll take a lot of work to undo that.”

Ford curled up this time. Abuse...He had been abused as a child...by his own Father...And he-he only thought it was Sebastian-He burst into tears again and Ashton sighed sadly. "I’m doing it again!" Ford wailed while holding his head. "I always thought of only myself! Se-Sebastian was abused and hurt too! He was locked up in the attic all summer and Dad hit him! Hit him so much!! He always had bruises on him! But I’ve never cared! And-and- I always told myself that I didn’t deserve to be made fun of or hurt-- but I never cared when Seb went through that-- because I kept thinking that he DID deserve it and I’m a terrible brooooother!!!” Ford was fully crying right now. He tried not to, but his unmanly cries were finally escaping.  

Ashton kind of wished he was there in person so he could give the poor man a hug. “You were a child. It wasn’t your fault.”

Ford shook his head. “No, even after I grew up-- like-- it’d been like 20 years since Seb was thrown out by our father and I never even cared what happened to him! I-I thought that Seb being dead in the street would have been what he deserved for breaking my STUPID SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT!” Ford sobbed, fat, ugly tears pouring out. “And it was a project that didn’t even work!” He’d realized that, once he was old enough. That thing wasn’t a perpetual motion machine. Not even close. It was just some stupid machine that spun around and around. But it would have run out of energy eventually. Either once the power running the magnets stopped working or once the kinetic energy wore itself out over time due to air friction.

So Seb had been thrown out, for NO REASON.

Because even if his project wasn’t broken, the teachers at West Coast Tech would have realized his project was a failure anyway.

And he'd have been rejected anyway...Ford wiped his tears and his eyes went wide. If he'd had been rejected, even with it intact...Filbrick could have kicked HIM out...Because he actually didn't care like Ford thought, he'd have consider Ford a failure too, not "making up for being a freak" hard enough...

But most likely, Sebastian would have been the first to go after him, to try and help Ford, try to convince their father to let Stanford return home… Seb would have never given Ford the cold shoulder like Ford did…

"I'm so horrible! I'm selfish and a monster and I only care about myself! I'm like _Filbrick_! I’m horrible!" Ford continued crying. Ashton winced. “You’re not. You were raised wrong, and now you’re working to get better. There’s no need to beat yourself up or blame yourself. The fact that you’re trying to do better is good.” He didn’t like seeing Ford crying like this, but it was good for him to finally let it all out. “You’re not a monster. You’re an abused child who’s finally getting the help you need to heal and grow up.”

Ford pulled at his last finger nervously, his own version of self comfort tick, like Seb sucking his finger. "I'm sorry…" Ford whispered.

"You don’t have to apologize for how you feel.” Ashton told him. This poor soul. They had so many things to work with, but to treat the rest, first Ford needed to come to terms with his abuse because it was the root to everything. Ashton was hopeful about Ford’s ability to recover though, if he was able to recognize the issue, then he should be able to work through this. Most people were in denial about having suffered abuse, not wanting to call themselves ‘victims’ so the fact that Ford was able to opening admit to himself that what he went through WAS in fact abuse, gave Ashton hope that Ford could heal. It was going to be a long, difficult journey but Ashton would do his best to help Ford on his way.

Ashton let his client rest after the session (with something warm, NOT COFFEE, and not too much sugar!) And Stanford went to his room after having tea. Abuelita made delicious tea. He curled up on the couch and tried to sleep, but he couldn't. He was still thinking about what he talked about and learnt with Ashton today… Staring at his hands and feet felt...different now, as if the meaning they have had his entire life suddenly...meant nothing. It was imposed to him, by someone who didn't like him. If he hated them so much, why didn't he do anything?! Why let Ford keep his 6 fingers only to destroy his confidence when he was just a little child?

Ford wanted to change this meaning that had stuck for so long, but where could he even start with doing so?

 _Ford sniffled._ _He clung to his mom's dress, trying to hide his sixth fingers. "A kid told me I look weird and ugly…" Mom picked him up and cradled him to her chest. "What a dumb kid~ They don't know what they're talking about! You are so, so, so handsome!" Mom told him, kissing his nose. Ford giggled. "And you know what else?" mom asked as she pressed her forehead against his. "What?" Little Ford asked, blinking up at her behind his glasses. "I read the cards the other day and they said your hands are so special~" She kissed the child's little hands. "Because you will make them so, Fordsie." Mom told him. “Special hands for a very special boy~” She cooed and cuddled with her eldest baby. Ford laughed and squealed when she tickled him._

“...Ma…” Ford laid on his side, tears trickling out. He… he really needed to call her more often. He curled up on himself. Well, unless she was angry at him for never calling… or for trying to hurt Zully… or for being mean to Seb… Ford shook his head. No, that shouldn’t stop him. If his mom got mad at him for that, Ford would accept any and all scolding he would get.

He closed his eyes and sighed, thinking of how he had to talk more to his Ma. He loved her so much too, he had thought he'd never see her again. And now that he was back, he had to show he cared. He had to change, because he wasn't like Filbrick, he loved his family, even if he was still learning how to show it…

And with that thought, Ford fell asleep.

\---.---

Dillon gasped as his grandma defeated him in his own cad game. "I've taught you too well…" He complained.

The old woman smirked. "I cheated the whole time." Diego laughed loudly and clapped, while Dillon bowed. "Queen of liesss!" She was here babysitting Diego, but Dillon decided to use his granny for his own entertainment.

The phone started ringing and like a good grandson, Dillon went to pick up. "Yellow?" he greeted, having picked up this little verbal quirk from uncle Sebastian growing up.

"Um, hi..Dillon?"

The teen hung up and went back to his chair for a new round. "Who was it, sweetie?" Kari asked and Dillon shrugged. "No one!" He was still mad at uncle Ford, even if its been months. Dillon was also a vindictive little bitch when he wanted to be. Something he learned from his mommy Carla.

Kari narrowed her eyes. She smelled lies here. The phone rang again. "Bring me the phone, please dear." She drawled, waggling a finger with a beautifully painted nail.

"But granny!" Dillon whined but still obeyed when she glared at him. _Scawy!_ Dillon grumpily grabbed the phone and gave it to his grandma, who held it between her shoulders so she could still grab her baby grandson, who was playing with her bracelets. The teen sat down in front. He wanted to hear what Ford had to say.

"Yes? Hello?"

"...Hi...Um, mom?"

Kari’s eyes widened. “Oh, hello Stanford.” She looked over at Dillon and he had the decency to cough and look away, a little bit guilty. “Not that I don’t enjoy hearing from you for once-” She could ‘feel’ Ford wince on the other side of the line. “-but what's the occasion?”

"Well...I-I thought we could talk a bit? Unless you don't want to, that's fine too…" His voice was soft and unsure. Kari hummed. She picked up Diego and left the room to have more privacy. "Be right back, Dillon, I have to talk to your uncle."

"But our game!" Dillon complained and Kari laughed. "Prepare it so I can come and beat your ass again!" She went to the room she used when she stayed in Stanny's house. She could see Dillon was angry, she didn't want him overhearing stuff. When she closed the door and Diego was on the bed with her, she addressed Stanford again. "Tell me, Fordsie, what do you want to talk about?" She had a lot of things to say, but Ford finally called her, so she let him talk first. Ford seemed to struggle on his side of the line.

“...I love you, Ma.” Ford finally said, almost sounding scared to admit it. Kari blinked and felt a thick, warm feeling overtake her. “I love you too, Fordsie.” She said wholeheartedly. She heard Ford muffle a sob on his side of the line. “What’s wrong, dear?” She asked.

“I-I just… I never tell you how much-- how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.” Ford’s shoulders shook as he tried very hard to express himself. Kari sighed. “I haven’t done enough, my dear.” She knew she hadn’t been the best mother. A smarter, better mother would have taken the kids and left that household long before she had. She had been a terrible mother, too afraid to leave until her kids were all grown and gone. She blamed herself for the suffering they’d all gone through. If she’d been stronger, braver...

Ford shook his head, but his mom didn't see it. "No, you-you were the best and-and you're the only one I have." He took a deep breath to keep his tears from falling. Ford didn’t blame his mother for what Filbrick did. She was as much a victim of abuse as any of them. As scary as their father was, at least none of them were forced to share a bed with him. Ford paled a little when he suddenly realized that the entire fact that Shermie existed meant that-- and then Ford felt cold, afraid to ask his mother if she’d even wanted that, or if Filbrick had forced her--

A thought for another time, Ford wiped at his eyes and got back to the conversation. "I-I really miss you and-and I'm sorry, I'm sorry I made you cry, but I'm getting help now, that won't happen again, I'm getting help...I just wanted to-to tell you I love you because I have been so, so SELFISH and disgusting that-that I never told you before…" He really hadn't. It was always Seb and Shermie who were the clingy ones. Those two had always given their mother hugs and kisses and told her that they loved her all the time. But even Stan showed his love, it was only Ford who didn't, because he had been such a bitchy kid…

"I'm glad you don't hate me after everything…" Ford whispered.

“Oh, Fordsie.” Kari blinked away her own tears. “I could never hate you. You are my first baby. I loved you when you were born, and I love you now.” She told him. “And I will never stop loving you.” Ford started sobbing outright. It felt like a weight had been lifted. His mother loved him. Even if his father never had, at least… at least he would always have his mom...

Stanford wiped his tears and managed a wet chuckle. He had never cried so much in such a short amount of time. It reminded him somewhat of Sebastian. He was so sensitive, despite his past as a demon. "I've been going through therapy for months…" Kari nodded, she knew, Lee told her. "And I feel so bad for hurting Sebastian and his daughters...I wasn't thinking _right_ , Ma, and there are _still_ things that scare me!" Even when he had been talking to that group of scientists for months, discussed theories, projects and ideas (listened to them talk about how they totally knew Tina the lab assistant was pregnant with Scott (from microbiology)'s kid while she was dating George), he still didn't feel like they were his friends. He was trying though. He really was.

"And I want to talk to him but I doubt he'll want to talk to _me."_ Ford winced. Kari smiled. “Oh Sebas has always loved you. If you call and apologize, I’m sure he’d forgive you instantly.” Her dear Sebastian was always such a sweet and gentle boy. Forgiving of pretty much anything. He simply couldn’t hate anyone forever.

Even when he used to be a...demon? Hhmph! He was a little angel.

Ford sighed and rubbed his arm. Yeah, Seb loved him...even after Ford had been so cruel to him… “So… I should… call him?” He felt a little embarrassed to be asking his mother to tell him ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Kari hummed in thought. "Do you want me to tell you what to do?" She asked and chuckled when she heard Ford whine. "Maaa~ I don't know what to do~"

"Well, sweetie, when you three were kids and you fought, how did you feel?"

"...Bad…" Ford grumbled.

"And what did I tell you to do so you didn't feel bad?"

"...Apologize?" He asked and when his mom didn't answer, he sighed loudly. "So I guess I do have to apologize, so I can feel better, and Sebastian can feel better...But I tried hurting Zu-Zully…"

"You'll never know how your brother is feeling if you don't talk to him, Ford."

"What about Wanda? Do I have to apologize to her too?"

Kari went silent for a moment before saying "No. Wanda will _murder_ you, talk to Sebastian first." She said plainly. “Let your brother calm her down before you even attempt to call her.” She didn’t want to have a 2nd funeral for her eldest son.

Ford nodded quickly. Ok, ok. He got that. No talking to Wanda. "Thanks, mom…"

"You're welcome, sweetheart" Kari rubbed Diego's belly. Diego looked like Stan, but still reminded Kari of her babies when they were younger. "Don't leave your therapy ok? I-I want you all to be happy and healthy." Kari told Ford sternly. Ford nodded. “Y-yeah. I will Ma.” He sniffled. “I’m gonna do my best to get better. I don’t want Sebastian to hate me. I don’t want to lose any of you.” His voice choked up a little. “I love you all, so much.” He told her. Kari smiled, glad that her son had called to tell her so. “I love you too.”

They chatted a little, with Ford telling Kari about how he’d been before he finally said “Bye.” and then sat for a bit as he worked up the courage to call his brother. He almost wanted to prepare a speech, write out the whole apology and just read it off… but Ford realized it wouldn’t be right. And that he was probably just searching for an excuse to push this conversation off. Finally, he took a deep breath and pressed the call button. It rang for a very long time. So long that Ford nearly lost his nerve. Finally the line picked up. “Sebastian! I--”

“Sixer?! This--” Ford could hear a child wailing hysterically in the background. He could also hear Wanda’s voice, worried and sounding close to tears. “No, no, no, no-- she just keeps bleeding!” Ford’s eyes widened. What was going on? Seb let out a wail of his own. “Now is NOT a good time, Sixer! I need to call an ambulance--” Seb’s voice dropped in volume as he pulled his face away from the phone to call out to Wanda. “Wanda don’t try to move Zully! That’ll make it worse--”

“Seb? What’s going on?” Ford asked, his heart pounding hard. Did something happen to Zully?!

But all he heard was the sound of the call cutting off as Seb hung up on him. Ford stared at his phone, worried out of his mind. What had happened? He almost wanted to try calling again, but Seb needed to call for an ambulance so…

Ford let out a soft whine as he twisted his fingers through his hair. What had happened?!


	11. Chapter 10: I jingle jangled my brain juice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blue: (I apologize for the weird title, Miz chose it and I still dont get it :/)  
> Hello, we're here to bring you a new chapter! This Sunday is my birthday wooo Turning 19 and like, wow.  
> I also start university again this Monday so forgive us if we stop updating each week :(  
> However, this is a long chapter so you can enjoy!

Seb paced back and forth in the hospital waiting room outside the operation room. This was the second time he was in one of these places. But this time, Wanda was with him. She was holding Zoe in her lap, the little girl was still teary eyed. "Soowwy?" Zoe asked, pulling on her mommy's shirt. Zoe knew that Zully got a really bad ouchie, but then the strange people in those weird clothes had taken Zully away and Zoe had no idea where they were. She was worried, and scared, and just wanted to see her twin. "Weer Sowwy?" Zoe asked again. Mommy was crying. But she wouldn't tell her. And Zoe didn't like it. She wanted her sister!

"She's gonna be okay. She's got magic! She's gonna be okay. She's got magic-" Seb was muttering to himself as he paced. He didn't want to think about what had happened, but he couldn't help but KNOW. He had Looked at the scene afterward, to See what had happened. It left him both worried and hopeful.

Zoe and Zully had managed to escape their playpen and had started making their way up the stairs. Wanda had been passed out on the couch, fallen asleep while watching them after a long night at work the day before. Seb had been making lunch in the kitchen. He hadn't realized anything was wrong until he heard that heart stopping THUMP from the other room followed by Zoe's screaming.

Seb shuddered. He blamed himself for not checking on them sooner. He… well, Seb was glad he was on his pills. Otherwise he'd be FAR more panicked than he was right now. His mind was more clear and that's how he'd been able to think straight and call the ambulance, tell Wanda not to touch or move Zully- poor Wanda had nearly lost it, waking up from her accidental nap to find her oldest daughter crumpled at the bottom of the stairs, blood staining the ground around them. Her scream rivaled Zoe's wails.

The twins had been on the stairs, Zully had lost their balance and tipped backward. Seb was able to See how Zoe had raised a hand, eyes wide in fear as a green glow briefly surrounded Zully, as Zoe tried to catch her twin. She managed to slow Zully's fall but hadn't been able to concentrate enough to stop it entirely. Zully had hit the ground. Luckily there was a carpet there, but unluckily, they hit their head against a stair on the way down. It was a very bad fall.

Zully was knocked unconscious near instantly and Zoe had started screaming.

Seb sat down next to Wanda and wrapped his arms around her, leg bouncing in distress, as she still sobbed quietly to herself. "She will be fine, Zully is strong, Wanda…" He told her, wanting to believe it himself. "I-I'm so sorry...If-If something happens to her-" Seb wiped his own tears before wiping hers. "Please don't think that. Please. We have to believe she'll be fine!" Wanda just continued crying. "My fault- I should have been watching them-" Seb winced at that. "It's not your fault Wanda. Don't ever blame yourself! Only I'm allowed to blame myself, right?" He tried to joke.

Wanda and Zoe leaned against him while Seb hugged them both. A sinister part of him couldn't help but think what he didn't want to think. 'I hope Stanford is happy now...' crossed Seb's mind before he quickly made it go away. No. Ford wouldn't do that. He'd Never feel like that. His brother needed help and while he hadn't heard from him in almost a year, he knew from Stan that Ford had been getting therapy. That meant he wanted to be better and Seb appreciated that. He wouldn't wish harm upon the twins on purpose.

Seb sniffled. Why? Why has this happened? He had been doing great this year, despite not seeing his family, they had been great… He just hoped this tragic event will become nothing more than a bad memory... Seb winced. No, he couldn't think that everything bad that happened in his life was some sort of divine punishment. He'd done that all his life and Linda had told him it wasn't healthy. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This was just an accident. The kids were just playing and something went wrong. It wasn't anyone's fault.

Zully was in surgery right now. Seb was still waiting for any news. He almost wanted to See into the operation room, but he would need to brace himself for what he might see. He was almost afraid to try it.

Seb closed his eye, ignoring the tears streaming down his right cheek, and hugged his girls tightly until they got some news about his baby… Seb had to be strong, for Wanda, and for Zoe. He… he couldn't take it anymore! He needed to see what was happening in the operation room. Seb focused his powers and Looked.

Zully was lying on the operating table with a little gown that was still too big for them. The doctors had shaved their hair so they could see the wound better. Luckily, it wasn't a horrible injury, just...a bad one, and head wounds simply bled a lot. Zully needed stitches for it though and they would need to be careful when lying down.

The baby also had a broken arm and leg.

It was a clean break on the arm, and a fracture on the leg. They set the limbs and put on the casts, luckily they didn't need to put intramedullary nailing. The child was young, they were still growing. Their bones were still developing. The doctors were optimistic about the child making a full recovery. The head injury was very worrisome, but they already told the parents that a specialist would check out their daughter once Zully woke from surgery and was healed enough to be able to run cognitive tests.

Head injuries could have harmed the brain after all.

Still, they were hopeful about Zully's chances.

Seb blinked his eye back open. He relaxed a little. "Zully's going to be ok." He told Wanda. "She needs some stitches and a cast for her arm and leg, but the doctors think she'll heal just fine." Seb could feel Wanda slump in relief.

A nurse then guided them to the room Zully would be occupying so the baby wasn't alone when they were brought out from surgery. It was a small room in the pediatric wing, but it had a couch for the parents. They put Zoe in her car seat so she could sleep and the two exhausted but relieved parents curled up on the couch.

Now they only had to wait...

Before the Pines-Friedmann ended up with Zully at the hospital though, there was almost a year gap from the incident that led Seb and Ford to not speak for said year. It wasn't a bad year though, it helped the oldest Pines triplet realize many things about himself and it helped Seb heal. Not seeing his family hurt, but it had been for the best to have some space to think.

He went to talk with more Linda after the incident (after months of only going for 2 days a week), and he went back to his pills, with N&Ns and all. After Seb's mind wasn't clouded with panic and fear anymore, he understood how great news it was that his triplet was also getting help. If it was helping him, who was a complete broken mess, dragging trauma from a past life, of course it would help Ford who was just scared of Bill. Not that Seb knew it was much more complex than that.

He followed Linda's advice too. His life had to continue. Panic attacks were scary, but he could just keep moving forward. So he went back to his plan to open his own store. Wanda was happy for him (and Seb was grateful she stopped mentioning Stanford's 'nasty ass' for a while) and he had found the perfect place.

It was big and just in the perfect location, but he needed money for it. Ugh.

"We can invest on the land, it's still our property." Wanda said when Seb mentioned it. "No, we gotta save money for the twins and I wouldn't ask you to pay for it for me…"

"But we. Are. A. Couple." Wanda argued, stroking his arm. "And I love you."

"No...I don't want you to do that for me." Seb grumbled at the thought of asking for money from the bank. He also didn't want to, banks sounded like evil beings who sucked your money, even Stan warned him about it, but what other choice did Seb have? Well, when Seb went to ask Stan for financial advice, he didn't expect the response he got.

"I'll buy the place for ya." Stan said cheerfully. Seb's jaw dropped. "What?! No- you can't!" Stan wouldn't back down though. "Yes, I can." Stan grinned. "Don't think you can out stubborn me Seb! I can stubborn you forever!"

"B-but you can't- This is something I have to do!" Seb complained. Stan rolled his eyes. "Too late, I already bought the place." Seb gasped."Fez! You dick!" Stan leaned closer to his computer camera. "But~perhaps I'd be willing to give you the Deed in exchange for a little favor~"

Seb pouted. Well. Looks like Stan was gonna make him work for it. "What favor?" He asked suspiciously. Stan's grin was truly evil. "Bring the twins to come and play with Diego more often! Come and see us more often! Dillon misses you, you know?"

Seb waited for the next point but it never came. "What? That's it?! Really? You-You bought the place I wanted for months...in exchange for a play date?"

"I think it's a fair deal" Stan shrugged and waved a hand. "So, it's a deal then?" He grinned a lot like Seb would do when he shook hands. Seb sniffled, and before he knew it, he was angrily wiping his annoying tears. "St-Stanley, you-you shouldn't have-have done that for me…! I-I wasn't asking f-for it!" Fez was basically giving him the place for free! And it made him feel all weird.

Stan's face turned serious and he leaned closer. "Sebastian, I WANTED to do this." He touched the screen, hoping he could give his brother a hug. "You are my brother, Seb. I'd do anything for you…" Seb sniffled and looked up at Fez with a teary pout.

Stan rubbed the back of his neck. "I… I wasn't able to help you while we were kids." Stan sighed and puffed his cheeks. He knew it wasn't his fault, but...it still hurt him. "So now that I'm grown up, I'm going to support you 100% and don't you dare try to stop me! Let me be there and support you with the things you love. You were there for me when I wanted to try out baseball, when I felt I wasn't good enough. You convinced to try to get in and keep doing sports, try out all different things to find ones I could do well in, I owe you everything after that, Seb, I discovered my passion, HELL I got into BUSINESS SCHOOL- and I would have never grown this much without help." Stan smiled and Seb whimpered. "So stop being such a baby and take it, damn it!"

"Thank you, Stanley…" Seb nodded and wiped his happy tears away. "I'll take the babies as-as soon as I can…" He wouldn't even mention they weren't shaking hands and this was more of a promise, he was too happy and too grateful. "Really…"

"Eh, it's nothing~ I'll give ya the deed as soon as you visit my babies." The two brothers hung up and Stan inhaled.

"AAAAAAAAHHH!" Stanley screamed. He stood up and frantically pressed the button to call his assistant. "Yes, Mr. Pines?" The young man asked.

"Call my triplet's girlfriend and ask her about the building my brother wanted to buy. Then buy it!"

"Uh...Dr. Pines?"

"HAH! HAHAHA! Do ya think Ford has a girlfriend? Hilarious, but no, Wanda, Sebastian's girlfriend, don't come back until I know that's my property!" He already told Seb he bought it… which was a bluff, but Seb wouldn't have agreed otherwise!

Wanda was really surprised when she got a call at work from one of Stan's workers. She gave them the information, pretty confused because neither of them knew what was happening, but she understood when she came back home and found her boyfriend.

Seb was playing with the twins, crawling around with them clinging to his back. He was using his powers to keep them balanced. "Wanda! You won't believe what that jerk of Stanley did today!" He crawled towards her with the twins squealing on his back. "Dada fas!" Zoe squealed and pulled at Seb's soft hair.

"Derk!" Zully exclaimed, telling mommy about the new word they learned today. Wanda glared at her boyfriend and he laughed sheepishly. "Hey, hehe, where did she learn that from…" Wanda lost her glare when she realized what that phone call she'd gotten was about. She had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. Oh Stanley you devious little- she would need to send him a thank you gift for helping Seb out. At least Seb accepted HIS help.

Seb excitedly told her the place was his as soon as he took the twins to play with Fez's kids. He stood up, the babies shrieked, holding onto daddy when the magic kept them on his back horizontally, and kissed Wanda. "I'm going to have my stooree!" Seb squealed. Wanda hugged him back, so proud of him. "I'm so glad, baby! You'll do amazing!"

"DADA!" Zully screamed, tired of floating upside down. Seb looked up at them and laughed. "Sorry, baby. There you go!" He passed the babies to Wanda and stretched. "Well, I'm going to serve dinner~! And then I'll buy the plane tickets!" The blonde snuggled the twins to herself and watched Seb go into the kitchen. "What's dinner going to be?" Wanda asked. Zoe shrugged. Zully and she didn't eat the same things mommy and daddy ate.

"You know what it is! You've been asking for it since last week!" Seb called and Wanda's green eyes lit up. Salmon with spaghetti al pesto?! FINALLY! "You know you have the best daddy in the world~?" Wanda tickled the twins, who squealed with laughter, before putting them down. Wanda took off her suit jacket and sighed softly. Truly the best...He didn't deserve what happened...They didn't deserve what happened. Her scowl deepened. Stupid Stanford! He had never been good to Sebastian, and he tried to hurt her children! He better not show his face ever again or the one getting hit with a baseball bat would be HIM!

The woman massaged her temples as she took a deep breath. No, nope. Hitting him back was not the answer...Seb still loved his brother, he might not want to see or talk to him yet (it'd been a couple of months since December), but he was still willing to help him. Wanda just couldn't understand. Yes, Junior was her (step) brother and they loved each other, but she'd never talk to him again if he tried to do anything to the twins. Maybe she didn't understand, they weren't triplets after all, and twins and triplets seemed to have a different connection between them…

Seb had talked to Stanley before (she loved Stanley so much, HE was a good brother, not like Stanford!) and both she and Seb now knew Ford was getting some damn help for his PROBLEMS! But he was just starting therapy, and knowing that self-centered man, he would drop it because he only cared about himself! He wasn't like Seb, he would think he was perfect and EVERYONE around him was wrong, so he'll never try to be better and improve himself. Wanda was fuming now. Stupid Ford. Seb was too nice. He asked her to understand his brother, but she just couldn't, not right now at least, she wasn't ready to forgive him, even if Seb already did.

"Wanda, if you don't come, I'll feed the twins your food!" She heard Seb call and she snapped out of her thoughts. "Coming!" She walked to the kitchen and caught Zoe before she ran away. Seb had been trying to put them in their high chairs. "Gotcha!" The blonde laughed and Zoe narrowed her heterochromatic eyes at her. Betrayal!

Wanda sat down, and distractedly watched Seb feed the twins. He was wearing an apron so his clothes were protected from the oncoming flying food. She loved too much. She only wanted him to be happy and...she didn't think being with his older brother made him happy...She had talked to Linda, and the therapist had told her what she already knew: Stanford also needed help, Seb had the right to give him a second chance, and she said it had to be Seb's decision when he was ready to see his brother. However, she still recommended to give it some time, until both brothers felt and WERE safe.

"Wanda! Can you help me? Zoe is trying to escape again!" Wanda blinked and noticed Seb was struggling to keep the two babies on their chairs. "Oops, sorry baby, I got distracted…" Wanda held Zoe and strapped the seatbelt on before grabbing her daughter's plate of food. Zoe looked at her plate and whined, pointing at it. "Ah-Ah! Boh-ee!" Their plates had drawings of bunnies on the bottom, and the twins liked to see them. "You will see the bunny if you finish your food." Wanda explained and gave her a spoonful of food.

Zoe pouted but still opened her mouth for her food. The sooner she ate, the sooner she could stare at the bunnies. Zully was obediently eating their dinner. "Ah~" Zully said, closing their eyes as they opened their mouth. It was a very cute quirk. Wanda was almost sad that Zully would grow out of it as they got older. Still, Wanda snapped a photo and recorded the moment. It was so adorable.

"So, do you have everything for the store?" Wanda asked Seb, as he fed both Zully and himself. "Yes~! I have everything planned! I even made a list! Like some nerd! I think Si-um- Pinetree would be proud." Sebastian corrected himself with a sad smile.

Wanda smile a little. "I bet he would. He's a very organized boy." Seb ate some of Zully's food and gave some spaghetti to Zully by mistake, the baby didn't complain though. "Yup! I'm more organized too!" Seb said proudly. Wanda rolled her eyes. "So, I'm still taking commission work for personalized dresses or suits, because I love the challenge! But NATURELLEMENT, ma cherie, I want people to see my designs!"

"Natu-eh-naturally." Wanda nodded. She didn't realize Seb could speak french, it was kind of hot.

"So...I talked to a teacher from the school I took that intensive course, right? I liked him, he was pretty nice, he even asked me why I never participated in the contest, so I explained what had happened and he said he could connect me with a friend of his who works in a fashion house who is always accepting collections from designers and well~SHABAM!"

Seb pulled out his phone and Wanda read the message carefully. Her eyes went wide. "Really!? They bought them?! All of them?!" The brunet laughed excitedly and nodded, making the twins squeal and clap. Daddy was happy!

Wanda laughed and hugged Sebastian as tight as she could. " Wha-When did this happen?! Why didn't you tell me?! Were those drawings you were making for them?!" Seb nodded. "I made a contract months ago to work for them for half a year, it finishes when their spring-summer collection comes up! We made a deal though! They would add my name on the collection, because the designs are solely mine-and, well, that's supposed to draw attention to me…"

"Dada!" Zully squealed and Zoe threw some rice into the air in celebration. Wanda was grinning as wide as she could. She was so happy! "You have to start telling me things!" She complained. "This is amazing, Sebastian!" The former demon blushed bright red, but he was still grinning, very proud of himself. He blushed even more when Wanda pulled him close for a kiss.

"So what else is on your very organized list?" Wanda giggled. Seb blinked and grinned. "Well...um, find a team to work with making the clothes...Be-Because I can't make all of them, right? And I'll be a good boss! Like in Gravity Falls, and then I can sell them! And then become famous selling my clothes to famous people, in fashion shows and beauty contests!"

Wanda grinned. She was so glad Seb had everything prepared. She would be there with him for every single step on his list. She laughed when Seb realized he had been eating Zully's food and the baby was happily munching on his salmon. "HEY!"

They bathed the babies together, carefully brushed their little pointy teeth, before putting them to bed. Zoe hugged one of her plushies as Zully suckled on their yellow blanket. The parents stared at them breathing in and out peacefully, they were just so proud of the little beings they created... The two carefully left the twins' room and went to their own.

Wanda sat down on the bed as Seb spread open like a starfish. He put Markimoo (the giraffe he seriously kept for himself), on his face and sighed happily. Today was a great day. "So, will you come with me to visit Stan and his fam?" He asked and Wanda leaned down and lifted the stuffed animal off from his face to look at him in the eye. "I don't think I can, sweetie…" She sighed. "I've got a case coming up. I'm going to be at court for a few weeks. Sorry."

Seb pouted sadly and Wanda bit her lip. "Oh no, please~ I'm sorry~" She stroked his chin softly. "I wish I could go…" Seb sighed dramatically and shifted to lay down on her, his head comfortably nested on her chest. "It's ok~ I'll handle the two beasts on my own then~" He sighed loudly again but a smirk betrayed him. Wanda laughed. "Stop iiiitt! I'll go next time ok? I always try to make time when you want to see your family…" She said softly. It was true, they spent a lot of time with his family and she didn't complain because Seb loved his family.

The brunet hummed and snuggled closer, nudging her hand so Wanda knew he wanted her to stroke his hair. "Maybe...Maybe we could...just spend more time with your family too…" He bit his lip a little too hard. He stopped as soon as he tasted blood though. "I would like to see my niblings but...I'll feel weird and sad if I see Ford, and I don't want the twins near him just yet-" Stan did say to give it some time and space. "-but seeing everyone except him will feel more wrong, and I still feel weird after 'monstering myself' in front of everybody... so just not seeing them will be like taking a small break right?"

Wanda nodded slowly. It wasn't fair he had to avoid his entire family, but if he prefered not seeing everyone until he felt comfortable, then she would support it. Besides, she didn't care how they were avoiding the dickhead, avoiding him in general was great enough. "Alright, spending time with my family could be nice too." Less fun, sure, but still nice. "And my twin cousins have been dying to see you~"

Seb laughed. "Oh man, I still remember making those Disney dresses for them." Wanda giggled. "They still own them! Sure, they don't fit anymore, but they kept them!" "Noo! Really?!" Seb gasped. "You're lying!"

"Nopey! I'll tell them to send a picture!" Wanda challenged and Seb laughed. "Maybe I should make the twins some...What Disney princess should they be~? I'm sure Mabel would love if they were Elsa and Anna!" Seb chuckled. "Is she still obsessed with that movie?" Wanda asked surprised and Seb nodded. "From what I know, you can't escape from Freezer's clutches...It's almost like you can't…"

"Don't you dare-" Wanda deadpanned as Seb leaned closer and whispered in her ear. "...Let it go…"

"Oh my god! Just change your clothes! I wanna sleep!" She laughed and smacked him with a pillow. Seb whined as Wanda rolled him over and laid down, stealing the blankets. "Well! I think I'm just gonna sleep in my clothes then!" Seb started to say before Wanda nudged him with a foot. "Don't you dare!"

"Fine~" Seb rolled his eye before he unbuttoned his shirt and slipped it off. Wanda raised her eyebrows when Seb didn't put on his pajamas. Seb kicked off his pants and crawled under the blankets with her. Wanda whined, "No fair! I'm too tired to take advantage of you right nooooow~" She tried to reach Seb, but her arm just flopped lazily onto the pillow.

"Mwahahaha! Just as I planned, you vile woman!" Seb cheered as he snuggled up against Wanda's side. The blonde woman grumbled in annoyance, though she couldn't hide the smile. "Oh, you'll see tomorrow how vile can I be~" Seb gulped. "Goodnight!" Wanda said far too cheerfully.

And now the former demon was scared.

-.-

"My everything hurts…" Seb complained as he checked he had packed all the twins' things. (Where did Wanda even get that 'toy' from?) Wanda was serious about being vile. She had been vile for two days straight. And somehow he agreed to being manhandled like a toy!? Stupid human brain! (He whined the whole time but he did enjoy it, Wanda always knew the right spots to hit to make Seb scream.)

He had called Stanley to ask about when he had to go over, and Stan said he could come at anytime, so he had bought the tickets as soon as possible (he had to buy two. One for him, and one for one of the twins' car seat. Travelling alone was always a mess). He wanted the deed NOW! He couldn't wait!

The twins were watching him from their crib, jumping. They were babbling some things he couldn't understand right now. They surely spoke a lot for almost 2 years old. It was amazing, Wanda and he could understand most of the words they said when they pronounced them half right. "Your mom is very mean to daddy…" He sighed and groaned again, rubbing his butt. This was his own fault for letting her know he didn't mind being ravished from behind. "Well, we have to be at the airport in a few hours, so we better get going." Wanda was in the kitchen packing the babies' food. She said she would stay until he had to go. She wouldn't go to the airport because the twins might start crying if they had to see their mommy leave. They were used to mommy leaving to go to work, but every other time they went to the airport was a group trip.

So Wanda kissed her babies and Seb when the time came and promised to try and get her court case done as quickly as she could. Seb told her to take as much time as she needed to WIN. Wanda chuckled. "It doesn't work like that." But the couple hugged each other tightly before saying their farewells for now.

The twins were getting used to planes. The noises were still somewhat scary, and wearing earbuds was very annoying, but they were with daddy and daddy made everything better. Zoe was in his arms at the moment and Zully was sitting on the car seat (the other passengers cooed at them). She looked up at dad, who was trying to draw, and then back at Zully. She wanted the carseat.

Zoe started whimpering and pulled at Zully's arm, trying to tug her twin out of the seat so she could get it. "AAAHH!" Zully whimpered in distress, not knowing how to stop their twin, and Sebastian groaned. "No, please, stop, you were actually behaving!" He exchanged the twins and Zoe stopped whining for a few minutes, until she realized being in daddy's arms was warmer. "AAHH! DADA!" She sobbed. "Oh, come. on! You brat!" Seb sighed. Zoe was very needy. Zully was the good child, quietly sitting with their yellow blanket.

Luckily for Seb, the flight was not long and they arrived in no time. The twins were given some lollipops so they'd stay quiet and they refused to take them out of their mouths, even when they were drooling everywhere. Seb grimaced. Should have thought this would happen…

He expertly carried the twins on his back and chest, earning more coos from people around him, found his luggage and pulled out his phone. Was he supposed to wait for Stan or take a taxi to his place? URGH! Should have planned ahead! When he was about to call Stan, a man in a black suit and black glasses approached. "Yes?" Seb asked, a little suspicious and wary.

"Can you cover your eyepatch for a second, sir?" The man with the suit asked. Seb and the twins sent him very confused looks. Seb slowly covered his eyepatch with his hand and the man nodded in approval. "Mr. Pines' brother, correct?"

"...We're identical triplets." Seb deadpanned. What a dumbass.

"Forgive me. The eyepatch is distracting. Follow me. I'll take you to Mr. Pines' house."

"Oh~An escort? Fancy." Seb knew Stanley was kinda rich, but he hadn't expected an escort! How much were professional athletes paid anyway? And plus his company! Stanley ran StanCo as well! Damn!

The car was in the parking lot, not a fancy limo like Seb would have liked! But still pretty nice and big. The man took his stuff, put them in the trunk, and opened the door for them. Seb laughed. This was so cool. He only brought one car seat, but there was another one in the car. Damn, Fez did plan everything! Seb leaned closer to the man. " Are you a butler?"

"No sir. Just the driver. I take Dillon wherever he needs." Seb nodded. "Ooohh~ You must be the one who brought him to my house back when Carla was pregnant, right?!" He asked. "Correct." The driver smiled just a little bit. He didn't question where the kid wanted to go, he just drove, that was his job. And he got a very nice pay after Stanley and Carla realized Dillon was gone. Big pay and a few weeks free after the kid was grounded. That was the best two weeks of his life.

They arrived at Stan's house and the twins squealed to get out. Now that he thought about it… They never held family meetings here! He had NEVER seen Stan's house! When they came for Diego's birth they stayed at a hotel and for Diego's first birthday, it was done at a rented local. Seb gasped softly and flinched. Wow, he guessed it made sense why Stan had to make a DEAL for him to visit him…

Seb carried the twins in his arms as he stepped out and his jaw dropped. One of those fancy apartments- the ones with those huge penthouse suites! Seb looked up and up. This was a very tall building. And… didn't Stan say that he actually owned several houses? Like, there was the fancy apartment, and a smaller and more homely looking place where Kari was living?

Seb shook his head and strode inside. The lobby of the building was very nice, clean carpet, a fountain- Seb whistled. Now he almost wanted to talk to Wanda about moving out of their little apartment and getting a nice place too! The twins were staring around at everything with a chorus of "Ooh~!" while Seb looked around to try and figure out how to actually get to his brother's place.

"This way sir." The driver told Seb as he walked by, carrying Seb's bags. Seb nodded dumbly and followed him to a fancy windowed elevator. Seb and the twins pressed their faces against the glass as they watched the ground fall away and were treated to a wonderful view of the city as they ascended high above the other buildings. Seb whistled as they finally got to the top floor. Holy shit Fez! Seb was grinning so wide his cheeks hurt. He was so proud of his brother!

"Here we are-" The driver was cut off by a blur running up and glomping Seb. "UNCLE SEB!" Dillon squealed. "Dude!" The teenager grinned. "You finally get to see our new house!" He bounced excitedly. Seb blinked. "New house?" There was another one before? He couldn't remember.

"Well, yeah. I lived with mom and granny Kari in the other house, but dad bought this place last year." Dillon shrugged and Seb's eye narrowed a bit. OH! RIGHT! Was his brain getting damaged? Was he forgetting stuff? Was he getting OLD?! He hoped he was just too amazed by everything to think straight. "It's pretty damn cool, being rich, but I kinda miss being able to just run outside and down the street to buy ice cream." Dillon pouted. "Now I have to take an elevator down."

Seb was about to respond sarcastically but he heard Stan's voice laughing. "That's why I got that ice cream machine! Now we can get ice cream WHENEVER we want!" Seb turned to see his brother. Stan grinned and hugged his younger triplet. "Seb! Good to see you finally coming to visit me!" Stan pulled back to ruffle Seb's hair. "You should have made a deal with me before! This is so cool!" Seb squealed, single eye sparkling as he looked around the super nice penthouse suite.

Dillon grabbed his little cousins and snuggled. "Hello, dear ladies~ Do you want to play with Diego?" "Ego!" Zully clapped and Dillon ran away with the twins.

"Why didn't you ever offer YOUR place for family gatherings? This place is HUGE!" Seb playfully punched his muscled arm. Stan barely felt it. "Eh, you never asked? And the kids like the town." Seb nodded. True, very true. Damn Ford for having the best place to meet up. Everyone liked Gravity Falls!

"So, you said you have an ice cream machine?" Seb asked, bouncing in place. Stan's own grin matched his brother's. "We can mix our own flavors by putting stuff in one of the compartments! But if Carla asks, it was Dillon! I already ate too much!" Stan squealed. The two man-children ran off to the kitchen, laughing maniacally to begin shoving random shit from the fridge and cupboards into the machine while chanting "Pines! Pines! Pines!"

"Dad! You better not fuck around with the machine or I'll tell mom!" Dillon called from down the hall.

"YOU SNITCH! I bought this thing! IT'S MINE!" Stan called back at his own flesh and blood and Dillon stuck his tongue out. He looked up at Seb as he poured a lot of sugar into the machine. "Wanda had work, huh?"

"Yeah, she said she had to beat ass in court." Seb sighed. "I wish she could come, I bet she would have loved to see this!" Stan put some random fruits in their creation. "That sucks, but good luck to her. Carla is also working, I should be, but I took a day off to say hi to you and the girls!"

Seb laughed and smiled at his brother. "Thanks for inviting us...and for letting me use your expensive ice cream machine." Stan ruffled his hair. "Don't worry about it, let's just EAT!" He pressed the button and the machine began to churn. "Dillon won't tell Carla about this will he?" Seb asked with a grin and his older triplet snorted. "He's all bark and no bite! I let him skip school! He won't snitch if he knows what's good for him."

"Evil but fair. I like that!" Seb nodded sagely.

The two excited brothers prepared very delicious, sweet ice creams, decorated them with all kinds of fruits and chocolate before remembering about their babies. "Let me guess. Does Diego have a TV of his own with his own video games too?" Seb licked his ice cream. "Sebastian. He's a baby. It would be a waste of money to give him those things." Stan rolled his eyes and bit his cone. What a silly thought.

"Uncle Seb! Zoe is biting me! She wants to eat meee!" They heard Dillon's cries for help. They took their sweet time to eat their sugar explosion of an ice cream before looking for him and the babies.

They were pretty much assholes~

"Alright, kid~ There you go~ Another bandaid!" Seb put the bear shaped bandaid on Dillon's unimpressed face. "Uncle Seb, your kids tried to kill me! And made Diego JOIN!" He glared at his brother, now acting all innocent and making a block tower with the twins. "The twins wouldn't want to kill you, the most they can do is try to bite you, that's all." Seb said, as if that was more reassuring. He did hug his oldest nephew though, and the teen snuggled against him. Much better...

They were now watching the twins and Diego in the living room. Dillon had been attacked in the playroom (where he took the babies with very good intentions so they could play together) but everything went out of hand and the triplets found him drowning in the ball bit, with the babies throwing balls at him and trying to sit on him.

"Zoe is a terrible influence on the other babies." Dillon pouted. Zoe looked up at the mention of her name and waved a hand, "Dion! Hiiii!" She kicked her little legs, an innocent smile on her face. Dillon pouted. "You can't fool me! You're gonna be a man killer when you grow up!" Stan laughed and patted Dillon's head. "Maybe if you had gone to school, you wouldn't have been attacked." Dillon grumbled. True, but he wanted to see his uncle...and he liked to complain.

Seb stroked Diego's little head. "You have a very cool playroom, kiddo~ How lucky~" He picked up his youngest nephew and kissed his forehead. Diego blinked at Seb. He was confused. Was that Dad? Why does dad wear that thing on his face sometimes? "Bah?" He asked, confused, but Seb didn't understand and continued snuggling him. Poor Diego was confused about the people in his life that looked just like his dad. He'll eventually learn though.

"Do you want to order food? Carla left us to starve." Stan asked his brother as he rolled a ball at Zully, who squealed and ran after it before bringing it back. The twins knew the difference between Dad, Isher and Tan, unlike their younger cousin. It was so obvious! Tan didn't have thingies on his face while Isher did! And Isher's hands were bigger to hold onto them.

"Don't you have like thousands of chefs to make your food?" Seb asked and Dillon laughed. "Nah, that's silly. I like makin' my own food." Stan shrugged. He'd gotten used to cooking to keep himself and Sixer alive on the other side of the portal. And Carla liked cooking together with him, whenever Stan wasn't pretending he couldn't cook at least.

"I can cook if you want?" Seb offered but Stan shook his head. "What? No, you're a guest! I'll order. Dillon, get your brother his milk and baby food."

Seb watched his brother stood up to order some food and Dillon groaned, stretched and went to the kitchen. This was nice. Spending time with Stan was always nice, and in a cool house? Even nicer! Then he stopped. "Hey, Dillon! Where's my Ma? Does she live here?"

"Not exactly here, she lives in another apartment because she likes to feel independent." Even though she always came to babysit them. "I think she must be watching her soap operas right now?" The teen smirked with a shrug. Seb nodded. Huh, she didn't know they were supposed to come? They've been here for a few hours now… "Can I go see her? Or-or will she come over later? Or?" He hoped she wasn't too scared from seeing him transform. Seb winced at the realization that he hadn't called his mom in a while.

Dillon shrugged helplessly. "Hey dad! Will granny Kari come say hi to uncle Seb and the girls?"

"Oh fuck!" Stan winced. "No, not you, ma'am, give me a second." Stan apologized to the person on the phone. He looked at his brother and son. "I totally forgot to tell her you were coming, you can go with Dillon and tell her!" He'll order food for her too.

Seb tilted his head. "Ah… so I need to go all the way back downstairs… with the twins?" Because Seb wasn't… it wasn't like he didn't trust Stan, but that last time he'd left the twins alone while he wasn't nearby… Stan seemed to pick up on that too and winced. "Actually, you know what? Better idea. We'll go to Ma's place to eat. I'll just have the delivery guy head to her place with the food."

So Stan got Diego into his little baby hammock while Seb got the twins hooked up as well, and they (plus Dillon) all headed downstairs to head over to Kari's apartment.

Stan knocked on the door and grabbed Diego's little hand so he could try knocking as well. "Hey Ma! I have a present for you!" "Graaany Kaaaaariiiiii!" Dillon screamed and Seb and the twins shared a look.

"Ugh! Stan Pines! Can't I have a moment of peace without you screaming at the door?" The door was opened and the babies, Dillon and the triplets screamed. Their mom was wearing an orange face mask, a robe and a white towel on her head.

"Sebastian! Baby!" Kari gasped, ignoring everyone's shocked expressions. "When did you come? Why didn't you tell me?" She pulled Seb and the twins into a hug. "Hi Ma, Stanley was supposed to but he forgot."

Kari shook her head at Stan who flinched a bit. "No, of course I didn't forget!" He lied. "It was a surprise~" The middle triplet grinned. "I brought your sons and granddaughters to eat with you! It's Chinese food." The old woman laughed and let them in. "Dillon dear, shouldn't you be at school?" Kari asked as Dillon freed Diego from his hammock. "Eh, they gave us a free day!" He lied.

Seb shook his head. Entire family of liars! He hoped little Diego turned out better than those disgraces. Dillon looked at his grandma. "Hey Granny Kari, why are you wearing that monster mask?"

"It's not a monster mask, you uncultured kid!" Seb laughed. "Is that a...moisturizing mask, Ma? Those are nice, have you tried the clay mask? Those hydrate and removes excess oil, plus contain vitamins and minerals that are good for the skin~" Stan and Dillon looked at Seb with a weird look.

"What? I like taking care of my skin! It's the only one I have, you know?" He rubbed his soft cheek. Stan laughed as he walked into the kitchen to get some plates and glasses for when the food was ready. "Hahaha! You've always liked girly stuff, huh?"

Seb shrugged as he handed the still wary twins to their squealing grandma. "I still don't understand why stuff is divided by girls-boys. Doesn't make much sense to me. Pants are pants. They cover your legs, but why do people go through the extra effort of making women's pants pockets smaller or outright fake? Makes no freakin' sense."

"Well, I guess?" Stan shrugged too ."I haven't seen someone straight liking those things though, but you like it, so I'm totally fine with it!" He reassured his brother with a pat on his back.

Seb was going to tell Stan that he definitely wasn't straight, but mom was here and he didn't want trouble just yet.

Dillon rubbed his neck. Why didn't Uncle Seb tell Dad he wasn't straight? The twins told him he wasn't. "Yeah...but not every….homosexual likes...uh...girl things, right?" Dillon laughed awkwardly, much like Dipper would do.

"No, of course not." Seb replied, much to Dillon's disappointment, he wanted to hear his Dad defend it.

"Yeah, but who cares? Why did we even started talking about gays?" The man nudged Dillon and the teen looked up quickly with a nervous grin. "Haha...yeah...gays...funny…"

"Can you bring you brother's food? I think we left it back at the house." Stan asked. The teen sighed and looked down. "Ok…" more damn elevator rides. Uuugh. He walked towards the door and Seb, mistaking Dillon's sad expression to be from being ordered around, nudged Stan and narrowed his brown eye.

The older triplet sighed and called. "Please...and Thanks, kid!" Dillon smiled a bit and left. Seb nodded satisfied at his brother. "Still can't say them huh? Ya heard that, Ma?! Stan didn't say please until I reminded him!" Seb snitched on his brother.

"Oh I heard him! He never learned, that boy!" Kari called from one of the rooms, she had left, and Seb smirked at Stan's annoyed huff. "Well, I have to admit Fez, that I wasn't saying it for a while either, Mabel accused me of being a bad boss." Sebastian laughed. That was fun, just until it wasn't. His smile was replaced by a frown.

The twins were placed on the carpet with Diego so they could play, and the three babies sighed in relief when they saw Granny Kari come back and she was back to normal, she had washed her face and combed her hair, so she didn't look scawy anymore. The little cousins played for a while before Diego started getting fussy. He wanted food. He whined loudly and threw him cube away, making the blond twins jump and share a very funny shocked look. Zoe then burst out laughing. That was fun! She threw a cube too just for the heck of it!

"Foo?" Zully asked Diego, pointing at their mouth, and their younger cousin nodded grumpily. Oh well, he just wanted food! Why didn't he say so? When they or Zoe wanted food, they just told Daddy. "Dada!" Zully called their dad who was sitting on the couch, talking to Granny Kari. "Dada, mik! Dada, foo!" The baby insisted but Daddy wasn't paying attention. Hmph! They could see why Diego resorted to violence.

Zoe rolled her eyes, talking didn't always solve problems, sometimes they needed to use violence! She grabbed Diego's hand to pull him to his feet, so they could go all together and demand food, but Diego didn't like walking yet, he preferred crawling despite knowing how to walk, and he didn't appreciate having Zoe pulling at his hand. "Ahh!" He whined.

While the babies went through a hunger crisis, Seb was talking to Kari. Dillon and Stan were already preparing Diego's food. "Are you sure you won't feed the twins yet?" Stan asked, slightly fearing what those little critters might do if they had to wait so much. "Yes." Was Seb's answer. "They eat regular food at home." They preferred it much better than their baby food mixed up with milk, ate more and the best of all, it didn't gross out Seb.

"So, how have you been these months? I've been so worried after...what happened." Kari asked her second youngest, and Seb looked down. "Well, ok, I guess? I've been thinking and you know, putting my messed up mind in order." The man held his mom's hand and rubbed it with a thumb. "Sorry for worrying you, I just needed time and, also... I was worried you were scared of me after I showed my monster form…"

Kari sighed and held Seb's perfectly manicured hands into her equally well-kept hands. "Well, it did scare me, I didn't know you could do...that!" She exclaimed and Seb grinned softly. "That only happens when I'm very very pissed off, I don't usually transform like that."

Kari stroked his curls. " So...that's from your...past...life...right?" She still had trouble believing all this. But she trusted her baby, and the evidence was just in front of her. "Yes, though it's adapted to a human body, my previous monster form was way worse...You seem to have accepted weirdness and supernatural pretty well, Mom." Seb raised an eyebrow at her. She got scared, sure, it WAS scary, but she didn't faint, or panic or reacted any more than a normal person would do if they discovered magic and weirdness was real. Kari rolled her eyes. "Well, my older sons were lost behind a portal to another dimension for 13 years, my son used to be a demon, who has powers and now my granddaughters have powers as well, I think I have experience in this field." She deadpanned. Seb laughed.

"Speaking of..." Kari looked directly at Sebs eye. "Have you talked to your brother?"

"...which one? I have 3." Seb tried to joke but his mom's look made him lose his smirk. "Oh, you mean him...No...have you?"

"No...not since that day…" It wasn't as if she talked with Ford anytime other than during their family gatherings anyway… that boy never called! "But I know he's getting help after what he did." Kari felt so bad for that. Her grandbaby almost got hurt by her own SON! And she felt so conflicted. She was so angry but she felt so sad as well, knowing Stanford was so unwell that he almost did that!

"Why do you ask though?" Seb asked. "Do you want me to talk to him?"

Kari shook her head. "No, Sebas, I don't want you to do anything. You will talk to him when you consider it appropriate, you're grown up already and I know you can make your own decisions concerning you and your kids' well being." Kari chuckled and poked Seb's cheek. The brunet laughed and hugged his mom. "Haha! Moooom~"

Mother and son had to break apart from the hug though when they noticed the babies were screaming. Zoe was pulling and shaking Diego's arm while Zully watched, unsure of what to do, and the poor smaller baby was trying to resist the treatment, but because he couldn't, he grabbed Zoe's foot with a free hand and the blonde girl screamed as she fell.

"Hey! Hey! What's going on here?!" Seb scolded, separating Diego and Zoe who were now pulling at each other's hair. Zully awkwardly toddled towards their grandmother. Diego looked up at Seb and sobbed. "Dada!" He whimpered, raising his arms. Zoe gasped offended when Seb picked him up to rock him. "No, no Dada! Mine!" she kicked her feet. That was HER dad! Not HIS!

"Why were you hurting your cousin, Zoe?" Seb scolded his youngest, but the difference was that Zoe could understand him better now than the previous times he tried reasoning with them. "I already told you we don't hurt...family…" Seb trailed off and stayed silent. Kari came in to help. "Zoe, don't do that to your cousin again, it's not good, you might hurt him." She said patiently. She'd had to get Sebastian to play less roughly as a child too.

"Ouchie?" The little girl asked, tilting her head, and Kari nodded. "Yes, ouchie." Zoe pursed her lips. But she was only trying to help him! "Bu-bu Ego, Ego wy-" She pointed at her mouth and then at her tummy. "Ah-ah he up! To-to di Dada! Ah-ah Ego thwo! Bu-bu he no!" Zoe knew the meaning of throw, it was always said to her, but couldn't really pronounce it. She nodded satisfied after delivering her message. Diego had been hungry, so she told Diego to stand up to tell her dad instead of throwing stuff! He refused to stand up though, she was FORCED to do that.

Kari nodded with a smile. "Alright, Zoe, but it can't happen again." Seb managed to calm Diego and asked. "You understood that?"

"Not a single word." Kari said. "But she babbles a lot, I wouldn't be surprised if they start talking earlier than normal." Kari rolled her eyes. "Besides, I think I can get the gist of what she's saying anyway."

Seb nodded. The Pediatric doctors told him and Wanda the same thing. "Wait. You didn't understand? So you didn't understand me either at that age?" He frowned when Kari shook her head laughing. "Of course not, Sebas, I could start understanding you when you were closer to 3, to be honest."

Seb gasped softly. So he wasn't understandable at 1?! Did he really sound like his kids?! He lived a LIE! He glanced down at his nephew, suckling his fist, and he grimaced. Wow, he must have been more pathetic than he remembered...

Luckily for Diego and the twins, Stan finished making his baby's food, and the ordered food arrived, so everyone sat down to have some well deserved dinner. Carla found them dining in Kari's place and happily greeted Seb and the twins, she was glad the three were ok after the event.

Seb rolled his eye when Stan kissed Carla and he looked at the twins who were smacking their rice with their little fists. "Rubbing your happiness in our faces, huh?" Carla laughed and joined them for lunch as she told everyone about her day. After everyone finished eating, they went out to the park together.

The twins were holding onto Seb's hands as they toddled along. Seb had to bend down a little because they were still so small. "Ego pway too?" Zully asked as they pointed up to where Diego was cradled in his mother's arms instead of walking by himself. Seb blinked before he managed to guess what Zully was trying to ask. "Yeah, we're all going out to play at the park."

Zully's eyes lit up. "Pak! Pak!" they cheered while Zoe joined in, "PAK! PAK!" the two toddlers chanted "Pak! Pak!" as they skipped merrily down the street, hanging off Seb's hands as they bounced.

"Hey, Zoe, do you want to walk with me?" Dillon offered a hand and smiled, but the baby pouted and snuggled closer to Seb. "No!" she said firmly. "What? Why not?" Dillon pouted as well and Zoe avoided looking at him. "Dun wanna!" Seb nudged Zoe a little. "Come on, Zoe, your cousin hasn't seen you in a while, he just wants to spend time with you!"

"No touch!" Zoe whined when Dillon tried taking her free hand and the teen backed up, scared of being bitten. "Alright, alright, geez! I didn't want to anyway!" He whined and stuck his tongue out.

Stan laughed. "Oof! Gotta work on talking with the ladies, huh? You don't want a girl rejecting you like that when you get your eye on one, eh!" Stan joked as he nudged his son.

Dillon stared silently before nodding. Carla's eyes widened a little and looked away, awkward. She sighed. Why didn't Dillon just tell his father? She knew that her darling Stanny would never reject Dillon, not for something so simple, not for anything, really.

The twins freed themselves from Seb's hands and ran into the wilderness of the park, squealing loudly, running even faster when they heard Daddy shouting for them. "Wait! Stop running off you two!" Carla put Diego on his feet and the baby stayed still, leaning against her legs. "Come on, Diego, walk!" Stan poked his belly.

"No." Diego sat down, petulantly. Stan lifted him up like a pillow and caught up to Seb, who managed to catch his critters and was taking them to the slides. Dillon leaned against his mom and pouted. "It hurts when he says that." Carla stroked his hair. "If you just told him, baby, he would know and he'd stop." Dillon shook his head and joined his Dad and Uncle. No, not yet, he wasn't ready.

"Seriously you two, you're gonna give me a heart attack if you keep doing that." Seb scolded the twins as he helped them climb up the slide. Zoe blew a raspberry at him while Zully looked a little chastised. Seb sighed. These two were going to be the death of him. Zoe whined and pointed at the slide so Seb lifted her up to place her back at the top of the slide. Zully had wandered off and was poking around a bush. Dillon walked over to squat next to his cousin. "What cha looking for?" he asked as Zully kept pulling and spreading the leaves apart.

"..." Zully was frowning as they pulled at the bush. There was nothing here. Zully huffed. Maybe a different bush. Bushes had stuff in them! They should! Why else would they have all those leaves covering up the inside? Dillon watched with amusement as Zully toddled off to begin inspecting another bush. "Are you looking for birds?" the teenager asked. Zully pouted. "Dunno." They rustled the bush and squeaked when a squirrel ran out and scampered up a nearby tree. Dillon laughed. "Hey, looks like you found something."

Zoe had gotten bored of the slide by then and was running over to pull on her twin's arm. "Pway!" she insisted as she pulled Zully over to the sandbox where Diego was picking up handfuls of sand to throw around.

Zully looked at the bush one more time and huffed in defeat. They held Dillon's hand (much to his joy for being accepted by at least one of his cousins), and the two walked over to the sandbox where Zoe was already trying to make a castle to later destroy it.

The three adults sat down on a bench. They forced Dillon to go inside the sandbox as well, Stan just had to grin at his son and nod at Carla's direction. Wouldn't want Carla to know her son didn't go to school today~

Dillon had realized his dad could be a dick sometimes. He sucked it up though, and knelt on the sand, allowing Diego to throw sand at him. Mabel and Dipper were lucky they didn't have little siblings…

"So~ Did you give Seb the papers already?" Carla asked Stan, who laughed when Seb scoffed. "No, he'll hold me captive for a week before that." Stan patted his curls. "You can't blame me for wanting to spend time with my bro!" And if some of this was motivated by Stan being worried about his brother and not wanting to outright say so, well…. no one had to know.

"At least I know Wanda will try to come as well, so my imprisonment is not suffered alone~" Seb dramatically put a hand over his forehead. The couple rolled their eyes.

Dillon coughed some sand and sobbed. He hated being a babysitter. At least when he was with the brunet twins everything was much easier. The teen pulled out his phone to inform people in his social media about how bored he was. He took a selfie with the babies, then another photo of them playing and a last photo of the park he titled 'im being a slave'. However, in the last photo, he squinted his eyes when he noticed something weird. There was some kind of...flash on the photo?

He looked around and, having grown up with this sort of thing, easily found the woman with a camera hiding behind a tree. "Daaaaad~" Dillon groaned. "There's another one!" He had paparazzi following his mom around for being an actress. And then with his dad being the 'disappeared and reappeared sports star' he had to deal with even MORE of them! Stan turned to look around and scowled. Again? Uuugh! "Don't you people get bored?" the man got up and walked over, shaking his fist and making the woman squeak and run away.

Stan made a quick search to see if there were any more stalkers around before going back to the bench with his family. Seb tilted his head. "So… this is a common occurrence?" Stan rolled his eyes. "Yeah pretty much. Ford actually had some following him around too, but after his paranoid ass judo-flipped one, they stopped bothering him. Though that could also be because poindexter never leaves his lab."

As they talked, the woman snuck back and hid behind a different tree. She was listening closely, forgoing any photos this time, since she didn't want to get caught again. She stayed low to the ground and quiet as they chatted.

"So Sebastian's finally opening his own shop? That's wonderful." Kari sighed happily, leaning on her son's chest. Seb blushed. "Well, it's… yeah. I'm getting a shop, but I'm also… kinda… starting my own fashion line, and that's kinda like a company. Fez has been helping me with the business side of things."

Stan nodded. "I'm only giving pointers. Seb's doing all the real work." "Not true!" "Yes true!"

The spying woman hummed with interest. So the third triplet was doing something. A fashion designer? That was nice! And Stanley was helping him! That's so cute and the public would LOVE it~ Romantic Love, fights and family love are so profitable nowadays~ ESPECIALLY the Pines triplets, because they were, of course triplets! And because they were so different and loved each other so, so much!

"But yeah, I'm very excited about it!" Seb told everyone. It had been his dream for a very long time and he was finally able to make it real! "Dillon! Stop Zoe from eating the sand!" He suddenly cried. Dillon gasped and pulled Zoe's hand away from her mouth. "That's NOT food! It's really germmy and dirty!" Zoe whined. But sand was so crunchy! Meanie!

Stan looked around carefully, just as cautious as he had been behind the portal. Someone was looking at them and he didn't like it. Was there another reporter? Why! Just leave them alone! He was annoyed that there was nothing he could do about this, it was technically a public space. Well, if they were listening to their conversation he could very well use that to start promoting Seb's future business~!

"Well ANYWAY! Seb's designs are AMAZING and I bet anyone would pay a fortune just to be given a chance to wear his stuff!" Stan grinned, slinging an arm over his shoulder. "Why, even the Northwests commission tailored suits and dresses from him!"

The reported gasped. The Northwests were well known as a rich and influential family.

"Oh, well, yes...they used me as their personal tailor, they were always asking me for stuff…" Seb agreed with a nod. Stan hugged him and exclaimed. "And this is just the beginning! Soon, all famous people will love your stuff! And all of them will fight to wear them!" Seb blushed. "I-I don't think it would be THAT impressive…"

"You kidding?" Carla laughed and Kari shook her head. So humble. "Have you seen your own drawings?" Carla poked under Seb's uncovered eye. "You'll lead aaaalll the fashion shows!" she teased. Seb whined, blushing and wiggling in place. Kari laughed and pinched her son's cheeks. He was still adorable, no matter how old he got.

The reporter giggled to herself and wrote that down. Amazing! She wanted to write about the opening already! But, according to what she knew about the triplet, Sebastian didn't live in New York. She pouted. She'd have to travel! But how far? Hm…

The Pines family played for a while before heading back home. Stan had some guest rooms set up for Seb and the twins. Seb was still in awe at the penthouse suite that Stan had. Their guest room was the size of his own bedroom! With the softest bed in existence and very nice decorations. The view was also cool~ he could see all the city lights outside the wall of windows.

Seb was very sure neither Stan or Carla planned this. They must have hired an interior designer.

"It's nothing, calm down, man." Stan shrugged. He offered his brother a drink from his secret stash (to keep it protected from Dillon and his friends), but Seb declined. "I don't function when I drink…" He suddenly remembered the delicious chocolate drink he had with Miz and shuddered. He didn't want to repeat that. Bleeghh. "I'm going to take the twins for a nap, see ya in 2 hours~" Stan chuckled as Seb took the fussing twins away.

Neither of them knew what sensational news was going to pop up overnight. Stan would appreciate it. Seb would be embarrassed as fuck.

-.

They were oblivious the entire night, but the next day didn't start too well. "Oh, please Zully, please stop crying." Seb had been rocking his oldest child since they woke up and realized mommy wasn't there. Zoe was ok with it, but Zully was very clingy to Wanda, especially in the morning, when the baby liked to crawl up to her chest and rest there.

While the poor man struggled with the baby, Dillon was forced to go to school this time. He grumpily went down to the first floor and was about to leave the building...until he saw the newspaper. The mailman delivered the papers to the front desk every morning, and for things like newspapers, it was left out as opposed to placed into their box. So Dillon saw the newspaper as he walked past and paused.

[Sebastian Pines, the next Baci?]

Dillon scanned the words quickly, eyes wide and gaping, before his driver tapped his shoulder. "Master Dillon, you're going to be late unless we head out now." Dillon tore his eyes away from the newspaper and shrugged with a smirk. Well, this wasn't a bad thing. It'd probably be good for uncle Seb's business. He didn't see a problem with the free advertising. So Dillon went off to school without warning his uncle about the article, not seeing any problem with it.

He had a lot to worry about upstairs with his babies anyway.

Back in Stan's penthouse, Seb had the brilliant idea to face chat Wanda, sobbing. "Calm your daughter!" Zully sniffled, their little face red and covered in tears, rubbed their eyes when they noticed mommy on the screen. "M-Ma?" The baby reached for the screen. "Hi Zully~ don't cry darling! You'll make daddy sad!" Wanda cooed.

Seb wiped his tears. Finally. Some peace. He could hear Stan and Carla sigh in relief as well. Zully frowned sadly at the screen. "Mama? Hu!" They pleaded.

"I can't hug you right now, baby." Wanda apologized. "But I send you a lot of kisses!" She made a lot of kissing sounds and Zully put their hand on their wet, red round cheek. "Kih."

Wanda talked to her small babies for a while, cooing at them or making them laugh, before waving good bye. Zully sniffled as Seb cleaned off their face. Zoe pouted, silly Zully was too clingy. Seb also sniffled. Wanda couldn't come this week because things got complicated with her court case. He understood, but it saddened him that his girlfriend wasn't here with him!

Now that the babies were cleaned up and dressed, he took them to have breakfast. Stan was at the table, putting out pancakes as Carla made food for the 3 babies. "Finally, I thought she'd never run out of tears!" Stan sighed.

Seb nodded tiredly and handed one of his babies to him. "Shouldn't you be at work? And, wearing pants?" this was something this Stan shared with the old man Stan. He liked walking around in his underwear too. Better body? Of course! But still the same habit. Seb found it kind of funny since the two Stans were very different in many ways but still retained these quirks.

"I already told ya I'm being a good host! Emille is taking care of everything! I only have training in the evening and I'll leave for a few hours, but Ma is here and she can keep you company…" Stan hummed in thought. "But I could lie to my coach saying I gotta accompany her somewhere and instead we can go somewhere fun…"

Kari laughed. "Right, use me as an excuse like you always do." She turned to Seb and fake whispered "He once told his secretary that I was having a heart attack so he got to skip a board meeting." Seb pouted, how scary, he didn't want to joke about that.

"Hey it was for the greater good! Me!" Kari, Seb and the babies shared a look, the twins mastering a deadpan expression even at their young age. "-And not getting bored out of my mind! I'd prefer shooting aliens than being with those boring people!" Stanley complained. Carla arrived and sat down, giving the babies their plates. "Hah, Carla you should have seen my space clothes! I looked SO badass, didn't I, Seb?!" He nudged his brother.

"Oh yes~ with your greasy hair past your shoulders flowing with the wind and unkept beard~" Seb said sarcastically. Stan pouted. "And my awesome clothes! My space goggles! My trench coat! And pockets filled with gadgets!"

Seb sipped his coffee with chocolate. "All destroyed and dirty. Badass indeed~"

"I bet you looked amazing, honey." Carla assured a scowling Stan. "And I'm glad you're wearing normal clothes again." Kari sighed.

They had breakfast, Zully eventually forgot they were sad and entertained themselves by playing with their twin and cousin. Seb and Kari watched them as Stan checked his laptop, (bored), and Carla left for work. Unfortunately, she couldn't skip work like Stan.

As Stan logged in to check his e-mail, the man saw a couple of random news articles popping up on the browser and his brown eyes widened. "HAHAHAHAHA! SEBASTIAN! COME SEE THIS!"

"For what?" Seb called but Stan was wheezing with laughter by now. "Ju-Just come!"

Seb stood up, stretched, and searched for his brother, who was hitting the table, guffawing. "HAHAHA! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT WORKED!" Stan roared. Seb, now very confused, approached him. "Ok, I'm here Fez calm the fuck down, what was so impor…" He trailed off when he saw the news opened on his laptop.

He felt his eye was going to explode from opening it so wide.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" The brunet screamed in a high pitched voice.

"...congratulations." Wanda was trying very hard not to laugh when Seb called her up, sputtering and whining. "This is good, it means you'll have lots of customers coming to check out your stuff on opening day."

"This is bad! Oh circles! Comparing me to Baci? I'm going to get sued for ruining their image! How embarrassing!" Why do bad things always happen to him! He paid for his crimes with his blood! These kind of things shouldn't be happening to him anymore! "HOW MUCH MORE DOES THE LIZARD WANT ME TO SUFFER!?" Seb wailed and this time, Wanda laughed out loud. "It's fine Seb. I'm sure Baci isn't going to hold you accountable for what some paparazzi say. They even stated in the article that they haven't actually interviewed you for your thoughts on the matter. All this means is that there's gonna be a crowd at your grand opening." the honesty was very refreshing to see.

"Urrghhh! Kill meeee!" The dramatic man moaned and Wanda laughed again. "Calm down, Seb! I swear this is a good thing!" She patted the screen, as if she was patting his face. Oh, her poor baby~

Seb thought it was horrible, he had never thought he'd see his name in the newspaper! Even less being compared to such a big name company when he was nothing! Wait, no. He was not nothing, he was good too. He knew that now...but still! They were still so much better! They had 50+ years of being a company! He wasn't even started yet!

As the days passed, though, he eventually realized it wasn't that bad actually! It actually felt nice to be recognized after being put down so many times before. And, despite how he was naturally shy (due to his human self) it felt just...great to be the center of attention again. (His shy and attention whore selves were always fighting for dominance).

It gave him more hope that things were going to go just fine! (But he tempered his optimism a little, just in case everything went horribly wrong, as it always did, just so he wouldn't be as disappointed.)

The week finished and Stan reluctantly had to let his brother go. Dillon was sad too, it was so cool to hang out with Seb and the twins (the greedy little monsters started loving him after he gave them some car toys he didn't use anymore and some action figures).

Stan smiled when Seb finished signing the papers and made the place officially his. "There! All done!" Seb put the papers in a folder for safekeeping and smiled widely, showing off his fangs that, in the eyes of his family, were just adorable (and not deadly weapons that could tear through skin). "Thanks, Fez, I-I wouldn't have done this without you."

"Hey, you did it yourself! And now you'll be in the media's eye!" Stan patted his head. Seb was so short compared to him and it made Stan feel older than he actually was. "I'm glad to see you're doing fine." Stan wanted to spend time with his triplet, yes, but he also wanted to see how he was handling stuff and he was pleasantly surprised. Seb was doing very good all things considered, great actually! Stan saw him happier, less jumpy and he just felt so relieved his brother's treatment was working. It gave him hope that Stanford would get better as well, and the three will finally FINALLY be together, happy and safe.

"Say hi to Wanda from me!" Carla hugged Seb before he left. "I will!" Seb laughed and with that, he and the twins went back home, with some new toys and with the first piece to accomplish his dream.

-.-

After officially getting his place, what followed in his to-do list was easier. With the money he got from selling his collection, he got a contract with a provider to get his fabrics, rhinestones, and other needed supplies.

Seb also contracted a small company to produce the first collection for his own, both for men and women, which was his favourite work ever! He loved the suits~ (Seb missed his bowtie. He'd start dressing nice again as soon as the twins stopped being dirty babies who got him dirty). He supervised the first production and he was very pleased, they were experts on it and he liked their technique.

Now that it was sorted out, he had to think of a cool design for the name. But that could wait! Because his tiny widdle small and adorable babies were turning 2!

Mabel was so disappointed they wouldn't see each other for the babies' birthday (or their own birthday, Uncle Seb apologized and said he didn't feel like meeting without Ford, it didn't feel right, but he hasn't talked to him yet and wasn't ready to). She was ready to plot a way to get them to talk to each other like in summer 2012, but Dipper helped her understand it was the best for the two to be alone for a while to sort things out. "Especially Uncle Ford." Dipper wanted him to get better. Mabel understood. They could still visit them at any time!

And so, the babies spent their 2nd birthday with their mom's side of the family. Their family was delighted, they barely saw them, but the twins didn't know that. There were a lot of people they didn't know, and older kids who looked nothing like their usual cousins. It was scary, but at least they had lollipops to distract themselves.

Seb saw Wanda's cousins after years of not hearing anything about them (except for Wanda sometimes talking about them and her own niblings). "Regina, Magda, Veronica and Rebecca Apfel~" That was Mom-Linda's last name and the one Wanda went by before she changed it to her dad's. It was so weird, when he last saw them, three of them were kids! And now they were married, and the two oldest had kids.

Oh time really went by when you were a weak human subjected to the pass of time…

The four giggled. "A pleasure to see you again, Seb~" Regina laughed.

Wanda was immediately hugged by an 8 year old boy. "Auntie Wandaaa! Why you don't visit anymore!?" He complained. Seb giggled as he carried the twins. Looks like Wanda was also someone's favorite aunt like he was a favorite uncle!

"I'm sorry, Danny! But with the twins and work I didn't have time at all!" She stood up and motioned at Seb. "Danny, this is my boyfriend, Sebastian and our daughters, Zully and Zoe. Seb, Magda's son, Daniel, but you can call him Danny."

"Hey, kid!"

Daniel stared at Seb with narrowed eyes before spitting out, "You call me Daniel." he glared as his little cheeks puffed up. Seb paused before snorting. "Alright Danny-iel." this kid was adorable.

Daniel huffed, stuck his tongue out, and held Wanda's hand to walk away, completely ignoring his baby cousins. "Come on, auntie, I'm learning to paint with watercolours and I want to show you!"

Seb frowned, a little confused, but shrugged it out. Kids. He didn't want to be left alone though. He didn't know anyone from Elijah's family (except Wanda's brother and oh, his new girlfriend), and he didn't remember anyone from Mom-Linda's family (he only met them once and most didn't bother to meet the twins when they were born, except for the 4 sisters and their parents) but apparently, they remembered him. Some prayed softly to god when they saw him. They probably didn't know he was Wanda's mysterious boyfriend.

"When I heard Wanda finally got with someone and had kids, I never expected it was YOU! Aunt Linda told us you died like decades ago!" A cousin exclaimed, his eyes wide. Seb let the twins roam free and he nodded. "Well, me and Death didn't get along." For real, how many times had he escaped death?! It was shocking.

Someone asked him a question, but he didn't really hear him because he heard Zully's laughter. He turned around and caught them just in the beginning of a code blue. "Fie!" Zully declared at their dad, and he quickly picked them both up to take them to the kitchen. "Oops! Looks like they want snacks! These babies! Always eating! Be right back-" Zully's hands were on fire now, and Zoe was rubbing her hands to create fire as well, but luckily Seb was alone in the kitchen where no one could see the flammable birthday children. Seb got them a couple of ice cubes to chew on and cool down as he absorbed their energy.

"It's kinda weird not being with everyone, no?" Seb asked the twins, happily licking their ice cubes. Mabel promised to send the babies a nice birthday present, and they'd eventually visit in the summer...but he was rather upset he'd have to spend his own birthday without his triplets, like years ago. Seb grabbed an ice cube for himself to chew and he chewed loudly. Stupid Ford, ruining everything… "He's fucked up, hope he starts using his brilliant head for once and learn how to get better…" Ford had to get better, he wanted to trust his triplet again…

He ruffled the twins' blond hair which had been combed and was held by cute hairbands (for now). "Please, be good sisters to each other, ok? Siblings are so important, parents can be mean, but at least you can count on your sister or brother." Seb sighed. Yeah, parents could be dicks in any shape and world…

Zoe gasped softly and put a hand on Zully's cheek. "Sistee?" She asked. So that was what they were? Oohh~ Zully hummed in thought. Sister? That was what Zoe was to them? Then what did 'brother' mean? Daddy called Isher and Tan and Termy 'brothers'!

Meanwhile, Wanda was drawing with her nephew as he told her all the things she had missed and everything he had learnt. He was in the middle of telling her for the third time about the solar system and how everyone was so mean to Pluto when another one of his cousins arrived and he left to play with them.

"Oh, thank goodness~" The blonde groaned and her cousins laughed. "Well, against popular opinion, Wanda is good with kids! Her twins are alive, aren't they?!" Rebecca laughed. "Oh, that's just because Sebas dear is such a good daddy~" Regina said and the four women made room for a very unimpressed Wanda on the couch. Their husbands were off talking to each other and laughing, so they could all talk about Sebastian, their childhood crush, now cousin-in-law (sort of), without their men getting jealous.

"You're annoying, you know that? But...you're right, he is very good with the babies…" Wanda sighed softly. Veronica squealed. "So~ When are you getting married?! Do you feel he'll propose anytime soon?! Can we be your bridesmaids please?!"

Wanda twitched. "Seb's too shy to propose." she admitted. Her cousins gasped. "What do you mean?" Wanda rolled her eyes. "He's too shy to propose." Wanda repeated. "It's not that difficult to understand."

"So you'll never get married?!" Magda gasped. Rebecca shrugged. "She doesn't need to get married. They're perfectly fine the way they are!" Her twin sister sighed, always the romantic girl. "But getting married is just so special, Rebecca~ Getting to wear a pretty dress and walk towards him~ Waiting for you with a look that screams 'I love you~" Rebecca rolled her eyes. Veronica never changed.

Wanda laughed softly. "Well, we actually don't need to! But...I'd like to make it official, you know? Tell everyone Seb is mine and to not dare try anything!" Regina giggled at that and Wanda continued. "I mean, just yesterday a woman was trying to flirt with him, he had no idea, but I knew!" Those harpies! "And all because he doesn't have a ring! So...I was thinking...I should propose to him." Wanda concluded.

Her cousins gasped, Veronica and Magda gasped even louder. "But-But that's...not normal!" Veronica grimaced a bit. "Maybe convince one of his brothers to tell Seb?"

"Girls, my mom already accepted the fact that he's not going to do it and I think she's pretty ok with the idea of ME being the one to pop the question now…" Wanda sighed. Magda shook her. "Then what are you waiting for?! Just ask him!" Wanda groaned. "B-but I don't know how to do it? I can't just… pop the question at him out of the blue!" She was sure he would get spooked from that. But her indirects she sent weren't working either (like watching those wedding planning shows and showing pictures of bridal dresses. It only inspired him to make a collection)

"Then…" Veronica looked at Wanda like she was slow. "Just bring up the question as a rhetorical one and see how he feels about it. I mean, you're already living together, and he seems to really love you. Besides you did make adorable babies with him, it's one more excuse to make sure no one tries to steal him from you~"

Wanda nodded at her cousins. "You're right! I can ask the question like that!" It gave her hope, she'd know how Seb felt and she'd know how to act according to it. Do demons get married? Do...shapes get married? Does Seb understand the concept of marrying? He must, he'd been human for a while, right?

"Speaking of Seb, where is he?" Regina looked around. Wanda shrugged. She lost him when Daniel pulled her away. The blonde found her brother proudly presenting his new girlfriend to everyone (seriously, Junior, stop) and she poked his shoulder. "Have you seen Seb?"

The man nodded. "He's been hiding in the kitchen with Zoe and Zully for a while? Something about getting them some snacks. I guess they eat a lot." Wanda thanked him and headed off. She found Seb making faces at the twins while they laughed and clapped, sitting on the kitchen counter. "Hey, are you hiding from my relatives?" Wanda asked, she wouldn't blame him if he was. Seb turned and grinned. "Well, we had a code blue but I got them here before anyone saw. And then I just got distracted."

Wanda chuckled. She slid up beside him and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Well, I hope you don't mind if I hide from my family with you. Junior is being obnoxious about his latest girlfriend." Wanda sat on the counter with her babies, who started clinging to her. Her brother got a new girlfriend every month. They never part on bad terms, he simply didn't want to commit to anyone. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as long as he was happy and didn't hurt anyone- but Wanda's mom complained about how he was never going to get married and- Wanda paused. What better segway than that?

"Who's he dating? Kelly?" Seb asked. Wanda rolled her eyes. "Nah, this new girl is Sasha. Mom's afraid he's never going to get married at this rate." Seb laughed "Well, as long as he's happy, right?"

"Hm~" Wanda hummed. "Well I wouldn't mind. Getting married that is. How about you?" Question shot!

Seb blinked, apparently confused. "Married? To me?" Wanda sighed loudly. "Who else would I marry, Pines?" She asked and the brunet shrugged. "Don't know...But marrying? I mean…" The thought made him laugh. It was one thing to like someone, he wouldn't deny (to himself) that he used to have feelings when he was first mortal as a Flatlander. Then having offspring, that was also a very mortal thing to do, not a bad thing though (he loved his daughters so, so much), but marriage? That was the top thing to complete the romantic rituals of human love he was now subjected to.

"It's a funny thought, to imagine myself marrying! In the ritual sense of it!" Seb giggled. "Because, it's not just signing papers is it? It was that way back in my old dimension, there's like a...different meaning to it here, right? And I don't want some random god 'blessing' me and telling me what to do to be with someone I love...That's you, by the way." Seb grinned. Wanda blushed at the way Seb just told her that he liked her so easily. And yet… she still didn't know how Seb really felt about marriage. He claimed he didn't like being told by god how to feel about someone he liked. That was fair, Wanda knew that the whole idea of marriage being a godly union was a religious thing and despite Seb and her being Jewish, Seb wasn't a very religious man.

Except if you counted those times he complained about that lizard god...Ax…?

"I like you too…" Wanda trapped his torso with her legs and pulled him closer so he'd stop pacing. "And, I know you think it doesn't mean anything, but maybe...what do you think of it if I say it's also a way to...make your love official? Like, show everyone you are with that person you like? To show how much you like them. How about then?" Wanda traced a hand by his chest. 'And to keep harpies away from your man', was left unsaid. Who wouldn't want to be with Sebastian, though? So handsome~

"But Linda said I don't have to prove anything to anyone…" Seb tilted his head confused.

"And what if your partner wanted to prove something? To… have a ring to claim them, like a physical sign of their promise to be together, and for other people to keep their hands off?" Wanda wasn't even being all that subtle now.

"So, marrying is proving you own someone?" He was genuinely confused. He had never cared much about these stuff, so he was clueless.

"It's not specifically owning someone. It's like… a big 'hands off' sign, so no one else tries to steal you from me." Wanda sighed. Her boyfriend was so oblivious she was going to have to say this outright!

"Ah~ But I'd never let them steal me from you! I love you, and a good punch and burn can work just as fine!" He exclaimed with a smile, and Zoe cheered. Yay punching!

Wanda screamed internally. FOR GOD'S SAKE! She pulled Seb for a kiss, grabbing and pulling his hair a bit tighter than necessary in her exasperation. Seb, liking pain in weird moments, whined in pain, but didn't complain. "You are so naive I can't believe it." Wanda whined when she finally pulled away.

Seb rubbed his head when Wanda freed him. Ouchie. "Um, sorry? I don't understand why you're asking these questions all of a sudden…"

"What if I want to get married. To you, yes, to you!" She said before Seb could stupidly ask. Seb blinked before smiling softly. "Um, I mean I'd do anything you want to if it makes you happy." Wanda pouted, "But would you want to marry me? Not just because you think it'll make me happy, I don't want you to marry me unless you want to!" She was literally asking him now, and Sebastian still didn't get it!

Seb shrugged a bit, still oblivious, rivaling with Stanford's obliviousness. "Um...yes, I wouldn't mind, really! I'd dress up nicely which I LOVE to do and the whole thing just sounds fun!" He grinned. "There's a party later, no? And I like parties! And there are delicious snacks!"

Wanda was still unsure, maybe even more than before. Seb didn't seem too sure. He didn't understand the meaning behind… but he said he would still do it… She kind of felt it wasn't for love but…

Seb said like 3 times already that he loved her. Maybe he didn't know it, but the feeling that made marrying him even worth it was clearly there. Maybe now, knowing that at least he wasn't repulsed or scared by the idea, her mission was hyping him up, making Seb fall in love with the idea!

Wanda nodded to herself. Yes, she could do that! She pulled him for another kiss, more gentle this time with his precious curly hair.

"Mama! Papa!" Zully reminded their parents they existed and the couple pulled away before picking them up, laughing. "I think we've spent too much time in here! How about we go open presents with your grandparents? Yes? You want your presents?" Seb asked Zoe who gasped and started clapping with a smile. "Ah bahbah! Pesens!"

The twins happily tore the paper off their presents (some relatives grimaced at Zoe tearing it with her mouth and shaking her head while snarling like a savage animal) and basically enjoyed playing with the leftover paper more than the presents themselves, but as long as the babies were happy, everyone was too.

Seb got to interact a bit with Elijah's family and blushed madly when someone declared he "Looked like Stan Pines and he must be the designer brother from the news!" He felt like dying. At least Rebecca and Veronica helped him and started talking about his work and how after so many years the dresses were in a very good condition...that made people praise him though, which made him feel awkward and self-conscious.

The family gathering concluded pretty well. The twins got new presents, Mom-Linda and Elijah got to show off with their grandchildren and talented (soon-to-be) son-in-law, Wanda got a new mission and Seb was mostly approved by the family...but he left with the feeling that Daniel didn't like him very much, considering his glares, 'accidental' kicks and the nyarf darts shot to his face and legs, aiming in between, and outright telling Seb "Move, dumbie!" And "That eyepatch makes you look like an ugly criminal, you should be in jail!"

That hurt, and Seb's desire to murder a child hadn't been this strong since Gideon!

But Daniel's mother apologized profusely and scolded her son about it, so Seb was content with that.

-.-

It was finally here.

Opening day.

The grand opening day.

The GRANDEST of opening days!

"Seb, get out from under the bed." Wanda scowled as she stood with her arms folded. Sebastian, who was curled up under the bed, said plainly. "No. Tell them I'm dead."

"Don't make me call Stan." The blonde scolded.

"Call him! I'm not coming out!" Seb curled up even tighter and closed his eye.

"But it's your damn store! You worked hard for it! And Stan came all the way here to help!" Wanda groaned. "He's at the shop right now keeping the reporters busy! Now get out from there right now and go to your OWN store's grand opening!"

"Im going to pass out! I'm sorry!" Seb whimpered guiltily. "I...I might have...forgotten my pills these days and...I don't feel capable of handling the pressure!"

Wanda knelt on the floor to try to look at Seb under the bed. "You'll do fine, baby, I promise, you're just letting your fear get to you" She smiled softly. "I'll be there with you, and Stan. You speak very well in front of cameras and~ Your new suit is all sad~ It's so sad right now, hanging there, thinking you won't wear it~Do you want to make your new suit sad?" Was Wanda talking to Seb like they talked to their toddlers? Yes, yes she was. Was it as effective as it was with their twins?

It sure damn was!

Seb slowly crawled out from under the bed, poking his head out. "No...It's too nice to not be worn…" He mumbled. He took a deep breath. Ok. He was fine now. He wasn't afraid! He worked hard for it and he wanted people to know him! His brother had been advertising this and he was lucky to have a famous and influential brother who got so many reporters and magazines interested!

"I can do this!" Seb screamed. "Yes, you can!" Wanda screamed back. "I'm the best in this! I worked hard and no fear can stop me! Sebastian Pines is unstoppable and doesn't fear DEATH!"

"...Yay!?" Wanda supported, despite not understanding. With a new found energy, and fire trying to make its way to his arms, Seb tried to get out, but he managed to hit his back against the bed frame. "OW! Hahaha!" This kind of pain was hilarious!

He changed into his perfectly fitted suit: yellow inner vest, white shirt, black bow tie, yellow jacket with black peaked lapels, black pants and black shoes. He adjusted his eyepatch, applied a bit of makeup, combed his brown hair and nodded to himself with a smirk. He could do this!

Wanda went to free the kids from their playpen and the family headed out to the car. The shop was close by, Seb paled at the sight of all the cars and news vans, along with a crowd of people. He wavered but took a few breaths. No, he could do this! They got out of the car and Seb poked Zoe's nose. "I'll show you your dad is amazing in any form and time~" Feeling scared for something like this?! Hah! Please! Zoe clapped for her very happy-looking daddy and Wanda held the twins.

Stan was easily talking to the reporters, entertaining them with some future events and competitions he was going to have, when he finally spotted Seb. "Hey everyone! Look who finally arrived~!"

Seb squeaked in surprise when the mass of people lurged towards him."Um, hi!" Seb laughed. The last time he had so many people speaking at the same time at him was in the press conference when 'the Stans came back'.

Stan rescued the family (oof, newbies, am I right?) and led them closer to the store. The employees were already inside, but it had to be opened officially. Seb smiled a bit. "Um, thank you a lot for the opportunity, to, to be able to be here after, after dreaming about this for years! It's really great to be here...After struggling to know who I was and what I really liked, this, this is just...Just amazing...and I wouldn't have done this without my girlfriend who has always been there for me! And our kids…" He carefully wiped a happy tear, and the reporters were carefully paying attention.

"And definitely, this wouldn't have been possible without my triplet RIGHT HERE!" Seb punched Stan's arm and he looked down, acting all humble. "He-He has always been there for me, and has bore with me since before we were born…" Oh no, oh no, his eye was leaking, oh no! Why was he such a cry-baby?!

"I-I owe him so so much! Because Fez is really a great brother, even after everything that happened! And-and I just love him!" The last part came out as a very emotional high pitched whisper. Stan felt very touched, and pulled him for a hug before he started crying for real. The crowd cooed softly and photos were taken. The reporters were loving this display of brotherly love.

Seb wiped his face and coughed. "Ah, any-anyway. I'm very proud to finally announce the official grand opening of 𝐼𝓇𝓇◺𝑔𝓊𝓁𝒶𝓇." It took a damn while to think of a stupid name, but Seb wanted it to be perfect, but then, when he FINALLY got it, he scolded himself. It was so obvious! How couldn't he have seen it before?! It didn't need to be PERFECT. It had to be IMPERFECT! Wrong in all the ways that people (back in Flatland) hated, and that's what would make it wonderful.

He smiled, feeling very proud and intelligent for thinking it by himself, and he opened the doors to the people! Some reporters entered to broadcast the clothes while others stayed outside to record the people laughing excitedly as they entered the store.

Stan patted Seb's head. "You see? It wasn't that bad." Seb glared as he adjusted his hair. He fidgeted, excited when he heard the reporters ask people some questions about him, and the store and how they heard about it. He was very happy to hear them say they heard about his previous work and came to see his shop because of just how amazing Seb's designs were.

Eeeeeehhhhhhh!

There were a bunch of people staring with jaws dropped at the gorgeous chessboard inspired dress on display (which Seb had frankly made for fun, he thought it looked cool!). The fabric was of great quality, the details were exquisite and while it was basically perfect, it had that...something that made it unique, out of the ordinary...

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_ (Miz made this!) _

A woman dressed in fancy silks strode right up to Seb and gestured to the Chess Dress. "How much for that piece?" she asked eagerly. Seb blinked. Well this one was just an experiment for fun so... "Ah… five hun-" he started to say before Stan slung an arm over his shoulder and said, "Five thousand!" Stan grinned charmingly. "It's a one of a kind! Seb hasn't made any other like it!"

Seb wanted to protest, but Stan wasn't lying. This dress was just an experiment so… it really WAS one of a kind...

When the woman seemed taken aback by the price, Stan leaned in and 'whispered', "But for someone as lovely as you, we can pop that down to ONLY $2500 since this is opening day! Special discount!"

The woman gasped as that was an entire 50% discount! "I'll TAKE it!" she said eagerly. Seb stared as Stan walked the woman through the purchase. Stan walked off with the woman and turned back to give Seb a wink and thumbs up. Seb sighed. For the love of...

Stan, always loving to squeeze out customers' wallets! That was definitely a trait all Stans shared, wasn't it?

Stan left the woman with an employer and returned to pat Seb's back. "You have so much to learn…" The middle triplet tutted. Seb rolled his eye. "You need to learn to sell yourself! You are a product! And you gotta believe you are the best one! But most importantly! You gotta convince everyone you are!" Stan poked his chest.

"It IS a very well made dress." Wanda agreed. "They are worth much more, I think."

Seb puffed his cheeks. "Well, I can deceive people in Deals, but I am not very good as a human conman when it comes to sales, mind you." Stan gasped mockingly offended. "Conman? Me?! Excuse you?!"

Wanda giggled. The twins, dressed up in cute dresses for the occasion, were curiously looking around at all the people. After that woman bought the dress, squealing at how beautiful it was, Wanda saw that the people noticed and started asking about the prices for the other clothes as well! Ooh~ She saw what Stan did there~! Genius! Stan wasn't a great businessman for nothing! She hugged the twins tightly. Zoe tried reaching for her daddy, but Wanda didn't let her. She huffed and puffed her round cheeks.

A group of reporters approached the three of them and kindly started asking them some questions. Seb, who was feeling much more relaxed, easily answered them. He explained the name of the store, talked about his previous works, how he started as a tailor at 15, the personalized works he specialized on later, and drawings he had sold to other fashion houses before starting his own. Stan commented from time to time too, just to praise his brother's work with "He'd been drawing since we were babies!" And "-really, he was already designing clothes and dresses for little dolls when we were, like 8!" Seb blushed a little at that. He definitely could have lived without the country knowing he played with dolls…

Wanda also answered some questions from time to time, about how happy and proud she was for Seb, how long they'd been together "-Since we were teens!" made the reporters coo a bit; and where she worked, "I'm a lawyer."

While Seb talked a bit about how he discovered his passion as a kid, a passion he considered pretty weird at first (not mentioning how he thought a demon liking to sew and knit was just ridiculous), he heard the doorbell from the entrance ring and some familiar voices.

"Hum! Move you peasants! Here comes the family of the star~!" Was exclaimed by a happy feminine voice, followed by an embarrassed more masculine "Mabel!" Seb lit up. "Niblings!" he cheered as he strode over. "Do you want us to take these rowdy kids out?" A guard asked Seb who waved a hand. "Don't worry, these are my nephew and niece." he turned back to the teenagers. "Pinetree, Shooting Star! What are you doing here?" The brunet asked as he hugged the teens. "We came to give our support, duh!" Mabel giggled.

Seb laughed. "Thanks for coming by. Where's Shermie and Abi?" He looked around for his brother and sister in law but they were nowhere to be seen. Mabel shrugged. "At work? Maybe? We kinda came on our own. We're like, almost 16 now~" She grinned proudly, putting her hands on her hips. Dipper nodded. "But they know we're here, don't worry."

Mabel poked her uncle's nose. "We kinda took a bus by ourselves when we were just 12 too, remember?" Seb pouted. "You two were so small and adorable back then...now you're old and have lost all adorableness in you." He huffed.

"WHAT?!"The girl in pink wailed. What did he mean she wasn't adorable anymore?! Dipper rolled his eyes and pulled her away. "Let's go say hi to Stan, come on." he dragged his wailing sister away before she could make more of a scene. "I'm sure uncle Seb didn't mean that you're not adorable, you're just more grown up now."

"Nope! I meant it! You just don't have it anymore!" Seb called, like the little shit he was, and Dipper facepalmed. Mabel wailed. "Noooo! My CUTENESS!"

Seb smiled proudly, watching the store bustle with activity and he put his hands on his waist. Wanda patted Mabel's head, watching the girl steal one of her babies and rub her cheek against Zully's to "-Steal her cuteness!" (poor Dipper was blushing so much to be associated with her) before shaking her head and telling Seb. "You broke your niece."

"I know~" He grinned, showing off his fangs, and Wanda decided not to ruin his fun today. He deserved this. Now and forever.

-.-

(Back to present day)

"Mr. Pines?"

Seb jolted awake, looking around and seeing the doctor standing there with a clipboard. Wanda was stirring from where she'd fallen asleep against him. "Z-Zully! How is she?!" Seb gasped. The doctor gave him a smile and moved aside to let the nurse pushing the stretcher into the room. The two parents gasped when they saw their baby there, sleeping soundly, head bandaged with their little arm and leg in a cast.

They stood up when the nurse, with all the care in the world, picked up the toddler and tucked them in the bed of the room. He adjusted their IV, nodded at the parents with a smile and left with the stretcher.

The doctor smiled. "Well the surgery went well. She's a very resilient one. We kept her in the recovery room to monitor her better and brought her back just now. We thought it would be better if Zully was with her parents."

Wanda nodded, rubbing at her eyes. "Th-thank you doctor." The doctor nodded. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to call the nurses, alright? Tell them as soon as Zully wakes up so we can run some tests on her and check for brain damage."

That scared Seb, but he was confident Zully would be fine. The doctor left to give them some privacy and he immediately curled up next to his child. "Oh, Zully…" He gently stroked their cheek and kissed their forehead. "It's ok now…"

Wanda laid down on the other side. "We're gonna have to be even more careful. The twins are going to get into even more trouble as they get older, aren't they?" she smiled a little sadly. Part of her still blamed herself, she should have been watching them. They should have remembered about the child safety gates around the stairs.

"Oh, they're going to get in trouble…" Seb held Zully's small hand and their little fingers curled up on his fingers. "They're Pines...and my kids…" He smiled a bit and managed to make Wanda smile too. The blonde picked up Zoe from the car seat and placed her next to her twin, she had been so worried, poor baby. Seb looked at her when she sat down next to him and he gently pecked her lips. It was not her fault, he didn't blame her for this, he never could...

Wanda went back to the couch, after Seb's insistence, and he fell asleep again with his head on the bed, hand resting on the babies' rising chests.

The next morning, Seb jolted awake when he heard a whimper. He looked down and noticed Zoe was stirring and Zully was trying to open their brown eyes. "Zully? Shh… it's okay. I'm here." Seb ran a hand through their half shaved off hair and Zully whimpered a little, turning their head, wincing at the slight pain and looking up at their father. "...Papa?" Zully whimpered. Seb smiled softly. "Yeah, I'm here. How're you feeling? It kinda hurts, right? Having a broken arm and leg? Human bodies arent durable at all, kid, you have to make sure your vessel lasts!"

Zully whined, their head felt funny and their arm was itchy. But there was something hard and thick around their arm and they couldn't scratch it. Same for their leg. They tried to move them, but the cast was heavy and the most they could do was slightly shift around. "Ah. Ah!" Zully whined. Seb, not knowing what Zully was complaining about, just nodded. "Yeah, you broke your little arm and leg. And you're really lucky you didn't crack your skull too."

"Bah!" Zully whined again. They felt very annoyed right now. "Papa!" Seb kissed their forehead. "I know, it's very scary, no? But everything is fine now." Zully scowled. This was horrible. This was the opposite of fine!

Zoe, who was awake now, was touching the hard thingie on Zully's arm, marvelled at the new texture. "Oohh~" Was this for ouchies? Where had Zully been all this time?

Some nurses came to check on Zully and went to get the doctor to do the cognitive checks. Seb and Wanda were sure Zully was fine though, much to their relief. They seemed tired and dizzy from the painkillers and their movements were restrained, but they were still talking to Zoe, hugging her and looking around as curious as ever.

It was a relief.

The doctors said they would keep Zully at the hospital for another day or so, but after that, the couple were free to take their child home.

With their worries finally assuaged, Seb and Wanda called their families to tell them what happened and reassure them that everything was fine. Mom-Linda and Elijah were horrified to hear what happened. Kari sounded terrified. Their poor parents.

Seb toyed with his phone for a while. Should he tell Ford? He did call him the other day and Seb had hung up on him rather rudely. Sixer said he wanted to talk to him… Seb sighed and pressed the call button. It rang for a while before Ford picked up with a worried "Sebastian? Are you alright?! What happened?"

Seb rubbed his neck. "Sorry for hanging up yesterday, but we had an emergency. Zully hit her head on the stairs, a lot of blood, we were panicking, but it's all ok now so don't worry…"

There was silence for a second. "She hit her head?" Ford asked softly. He was left worried after hearing Seb scream on the phone. It wasn't very nice to spend a year without hearing from his brother and having terrified screams be the first thing he DID hear from him. "Is-Is she ok?"

Wanda leaned closer to hear, green eyes narrowed a bit. Her anger from last year returned. Did he even care?

"Very much...She-She's tired but she's trying very hard to play with Zoe now…" Zoe had refused to leave the bed, so the two were together. Zully couldn't really move, and seemed tired but they still reach out with their non-broken hand to hold hands with their twin.

Ford wasn't very sure of what he was supposed to say now. His niece had an accident, and it scared Seb, but they were fine now, Zully was safe. "I'm glad she's doing well." He finally said. "I'm sorry you had to go through-through that scare…" That sounded like the right thing to say in his mind. It considered what his brother felt and what he felt, just like Ashton recommended him to do. It seemed to work since Sebastian sounded a little more relaxed. "Yeah, well… we're fine. Zully's fine. And we're gonna be more careful in the future."

Ford nodded. He wasn't sure what else to say. But there was something else that Ford knew he was going to need to say.

"Sebastian, I-...We haven't talked in a while…" Stanford pointed out and Seb nodded, stroking Wanda's hand as she huffed, rather annoyed with his triplet. "Yeah...I had almost forgotten how deep your voice was." Seb joked with a smirk and Ford actually smiled on the other side, but Seb couldn't see it. He couldn't see how relieved his brother looked at being able to talk to him. Happy Seb wasn't rejecting him and refuse to speak to him after what he did.

"Sebastian, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything I've done to you an-and everything else I've done. I'm so sorry. I've been a terrible brother." The scientist blurted out quickly. Seb blinked. "Ah… okay…" he wasn't really sure how to deal with this sudden apology. People didn't really apologize to him.

Wanda raised an eyebrow and Ford wasn't sure how to react to that. He really didn't expect that response. "I, well, I am glad you...you forgive me that…"

"He didn't forgive you, he simply stated that he heard you!" Wanda exclaimed on the phone and Seb glared at her. "Wands!" He turned to the phone. "That's not true, Sixer, I was just...surprised and of course I forgive you." Seb rolled his eye. He always did, he was just extremely angry this time and he learnt he had to pay more attention to the twins. And well, as mad at he'd been at Ford, he still loved his stupid brother, he loved them more than anything in this human life.

"Look, Sebastian, what I did… I can't…" Ford made a frustrated sound. "Part of me is still afraid, but I don't know how to go about making up for what I almost… well…" Ford rubbed his face. "What I'm trying to say is, I'm so, so, sorry. And I want to do whatever I can to make up for it. Please, what would I need to do?"

Wanda muttered something under her breath, but Seb decided to mute it out and he hummed in thought. "How's your therapy going?"

Ford blinked. "It's actually going pretty well, almost a year, it's been...enlightening about many things in my life…" Ford didn't really want to admit it, but what he'd gone through, all of them, had been abuse from Filbrick. Ford hadn't thought of it that way until Ashton had brought it up, but that… was what had happened.

Seb smiled. "I know right? First you don't want them entering your mind and stuff, but they somehow...know, right? It's actually pretty nice to have someone to talk about stuff that bothers me!"

Ford smiled a bit. "Exactly…"

Seb leaned against Wanda. "Well, I want to see you, I miss your dumb face."

Ford stopped himself from saying they had the same face and let his brother continue.

"I mean, it's been so long and I miss messing with you too and maybe-maybe I'll feel a bit wary with you close to the babies, but I want to see you…" Seb admitted. Ford sighed. "I will stay far away from your babies. And… ah…" Ford blushed. "I've been getting plenty of sleep. Soos and Fiddleford have been wrestling me into my bed…" At that, Seb started laughing into the phone.

"What a naughty Sixer, giving his babysitters a hard time." He teased. Ford grinned a bit. "Well, yes, I don't like sleeping, alright?"

"But sleeping is the best part of being a human!" Seb laughed. The two brothers talked for a while, Wanda ignored them and entertained herself with the babies.

She couldn't deny Seb was grinning harder than he had done this year and just for that she'd allow Stanford into her house…

Ford wasn't alone when he visited. All the family made some time to see Zully as they got better and give her presents…

Zoe didn't understand why Zully was receiving gifts and not her. She started fussing loudly about it, reaching for Zully's gifts and wanting them for herself. Seb patted her head as she made an adorable angry pout. "Oh, I'm sure Zully will lend you some of her toys~" He understood what it was like to not receive toys for oneself, but this was very different from when he was a kid. He never got presents because they were for the Stans who were told to 'share', here Zully had an accident and it made sense for her to get some gifts.

Shermie was gently stroking Zully's head, careful with the stitches. "It's such a shame you had to cut all her hair off, it was beautiful!" Because half their hair was shaved so the doctors could put in the stitches. It looked awful so Seb decided to cut the rest of her hair as well, just to even it out. Zully was now almost bald, with hair barely covering their little head.

"Well, she would have looked weird with only part of her head shaved! I did it in the name of fashion!" Seb justified. Zoe was patting Zully's head for hours after the haircut, marveling at how scratchy their hair felt. Zully actually liked having short hair. Their head felt cool and so light!

Mabel was relieved that Zully was fine, but still lamented the hair loss. She loved the twins' hair. It was the perfect mix of pretty blond color, soft baby hair, and the fluffiness inherent to the Pines hair texture.

Only Shermie and his own twins were in the house when Ford appeared. He also had a gift for his niece. Seb opened the door and the two brothers stared at each other for a second, unsure of how to respond. Ford coughed and held out the stuffed rabbit. "I… ah… got this? For Zully?" Girls liked dolls right? Yeah, that's how it worked.

Seb snorted after the awkward silence and laughed. Ford was caught off guard when his little brother (he WAS little, damn Seb was so short), threw himself over him for a hug. "Been a long time, Brainiac…"

Fords eyes widened before he hugged his brother back. "I know…" Seb ruffled his hair. "Did you miss me? Admit it~ You did miss me~~" He put a finger on his own cheek. Ford rolled his eyes. "Yes, perhaps. Your shrill, whining voice has been sadly absent from my life this past year."

"My voice is not shrill!" Seb whined even as his voice cracked. Ford snorted and laughed loudly. Seb hit his arm repeatedly but it barely hurt, to be honest. "RETRACT YOURSELF!" Seb screamed. It wasn't his fault his voice wasn't as deep as his brothers. His vocal chords worked to make his voice sound the same as his past life!

Ford continued laughing. He-He had missed this, a lot. He pulled Seb for another hug. "...No…" Seb huffed annoyed. Nasty poopface jerk!

""AAWWW! They're hugging~!"" The two turned around and saw Shermie and Mabel squealing. Ford pulled away and coughed. "Well, he's my brother. There's nothing wrong with some physical affection every now and then."

"Of course not! Now you'll finally be friends again, right?! RIGHT?!" Mabel pointed a lollipop at them, threateningly. Seb smirked. "Maybe Shooting Star, with time."

Shermie said hi to his oldest brother. He had been so disappointed after that day (and so, so freaking scared of Sebastian's MONSTER FORM!) but he couldn't hate his brothers, none of them. He spent too much time thinking Stanford was dead, and now that he was an adult, he understood that no one was perfect, people fought. Ford made a mistake, he needed help, and he got it.

Seb gave Ford's arm a friendly punch and invited him inside. "Mabel made cookies, with lots and lots of sugar. You should try them." Mabel cheered and Dipper pointed out he 'Helped too by buying the chocolate chips and mixing the dough!'

The plan was actually to keep the babies away from the scientist, but Zoe and Zully noticed Isher coming into the room, and they hadn't said hi to him in FOREVER!

"SHISHER!" Zully called innocently and waved their undamaged arm wildly. Zoe was bouncing in place with her arms up, begging to get picked up. Ford winced and not-quite hid behind Seb. "Ah, hello girls. It's very nice to see you both again." He didn't move any closer to them though. Zoe whined. Why wasn't Sixer picking her up? "ISHER!" Zoe whined, waving her hands.

Ford looked at Seb who laughed. "No babies, Sixer can't pick you up right now, his hands hurt. I can pick you up though!" He went over to grab Zoe but the little girl whined loudly and smacked his arms away. "No!" Daddy picked them every time! She wanted Isher now!

Zully tried dragging themselves to get down from the couch, to go to their uncle, but only managed to hurt themselves and let out a sob. Seb quickly picked Zully up and put them back on the couch. "No Zully you shouldn't try to move around before your bones heal!" Seb scolded lightly. Zully whimpered. "Shisher…." Seb sighed. "You two really love your uncle Sixer, huh?"

He hugged his hurt baby and looked down at Zoe, pouting hard and looking very upset she was being denied her fun. His younger brother and his kids were watching the scene, unsure of what he'll to do about this. They didn't really want Ford near the twins until he was… cleared for stable mental health, but the kids clearly wanted to play with him.

And of course Seb was weak for his kids and gave in. They were going to be the death of him. Making sure Wanda wasn't around, he looked at Stanford, standing there and, with a frown on his face, motioned him closer. "The twins want to say hi. Kneel there, but don't carry them, just...stay still, and if you do something I'll shoot." He made a sound with his mouth, as if he was loading a gun while the tip of his finger caught on fire.

Ford nodded quickly. Ok. He could do this! He knelt in front of the bouncing babies. "Hi, Zoe...hi Zully…" he stared sadly at the baby. So eager to see him despite how he almost hurt them...How could he be afraid of this child? It was his brother's baby!

The twins squealed and reached for his hands. Ford let them take his hands and hug them. "Isher!" Zoe cooed as she pet his arm. Then she took Ford's hand into her mouth and bit him. Ford yelped as Seb scolded. "Dammit Zoe! What did I say about biting?!" Zoe whined when daddy pulled her mouth open and removed Sixer's hand. But Sixer's hands were so nice and chewy!

Well, everything was nice and chewy for Zoe, but that's not the point!

Zully laughed loudly and kicked their free leg wildly. They tried to clap as well, because Sixer's funny (pained and scared) faces were HILARIOUS! Unfortunately, their hand was trapped, so the baby decided to just hit the couch.

Wanda had a fit when she came back and saw Ford near the babies, but Seb managed to calm the blonde beast down before she killed Ford. "The twins WANT to be with him, it's their family, I'm keeping an eye on them." Then he kept the two very far away from each other the rest of the day.

At night, Shermie and the twins made themselves comfortable in the living room (since the guest room was now the nursery) without any previous warning that they'd be staying the night, while Wanda took the twins to their room and Seb stayed with Ford, cleaning up and talking about what they missed, just catching up, like "Stan mentioned you opened your store, congratulations." And "I'm so glad you have friends! Are they nerds?! Do you play DDNMD with them?" "...We haven't gotten to that intimacy and trust yet …" "PFTT HAHAHA!"

Seb was happy that he and Ford finally made up. Ford was glad he wasn't as terrified as he'd been. He was still worried about the kids and whether or not one of them might be Bill, but, everyone was right. If one of them  _was_  Bill, he was a helpless child by now. After all, Sebastian had turned out fine. So… Ford was going to leave this for now. He would keep an eye on the twins but he wasn't going to hurt them. Never. They were still his nieces after all, and he loved them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blue: OOOF So we saw what Seb had been doing while Ford was in therapy. They'll once again try to be friends. These guys were seriously deprived from a great, funny friendship tbh (f*** Fildick!)  
> Please comment and tell us what you think! We love to hear from you all!


	12. Chapter 11-Closing an unfortunate cycle of hate and moving on

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blue: hello guys! I'm back (College is going to kill me and I have been there for 2 weeks, I feel it.) But anyway! We hope you enjoy this chapter!

After the living room was cleaned, the two triplets sat down on the couch. Seb knew Wanda wasn't coming down (not wanting to see Ford), so he had time to be with his brother. He made tea for the two of them, he wanted an  _adult_  drink, but he needed to drink with a responsible adult who would be able to handle him, stop him before he got too drunk, and that adult wasn't Ford, who was another light weight.

"So, how've you been? You know, aside from therapy and work? And apparently being wrestled into your bed?" Seb asked, sitting back and sipping his tea.

"Um, not much, really...I've been doing some research, started some projects, Soos tried to explain to me what anime was…"

"Uh huh, Soos loves doing that."

"Um, I talk to Melody a bit more too, she's nice. And Abuelita cooks me lunch now."

"UMMM! Abuelita's cooking is delicious~ Not as much as mine  _of course~_ " Seb smirked and Ford rolled his eyes. He finished his tea and put the cup on the table to continue speaking. "And well, I try to follow Ashton's advice more, you know? Talking to people is hard but he has helped me and...I feel like I know more about myself now." He looked down at his hands. "I had...a serious problem with my hands-"

"Noo~ Really?" Seb giggled sarcastically.

"-Shh! I still had a problem with them, which I thought I had overcome as a kid when I grew up...but apparently I hadn't…" Ford felt a little odd to admit this fact so openly. But it felt nice to get it off his shoulders.

Seb nodded at Ford's admission. "Well, I still had lots of self image issues too. Linda's worked with on me with that."

The two nodded at the same time and Seb poured more tea because sugary tea was life. "You know...we shouldn't listen to what others call us or think of us, we're so much better than any average pathetic meatsack!" Ford laughed at that. "Maybe we shouldn't! What do they know, right?" The two clicked their cups and Seb decided they were playing chess because he said so and it was his house.

As he searched for the box, he called. "But seriously though, humans can be so evil too...they'll try to hurt you and make you feel bad about yourself...and it's hard to ignore that, you know? When you're trying to fit in like a human…"

Ford understood. Not the human part, but the part about trying to fit in. Seb found the box and sat in front of him again. "But, they aren't true, like the bullies' mean words or the teachers' cruel words or-or Filbrick calling you a worthless piece of shit and beating you up, you know? I know that's not true and that I didn't deserve that!" Seb laughed and started setting the game. Ford frowned a bit at his words. Ouch.

"Sebastian, I'm so sorry that I never noticed what you were really going through." Ford said quietly. "As your brother, I should have… should have done something to try and help you. Like Stanley always did…" Ford squeezed his hands together, ashamed at his own self centered ignorance of what had been happening to his brother.

"It's ok, I survived, didn't I?" Seb chuckled softly, but there was still sadness in his voice. "You didn't know I didn't deserve it,  _I_  didn't know I didn't deserve it, Stan just didn't want me to get hit, whether I deserved it or not, you really couldn't have done anything."

"No that's not what I meant." Ford shook his head. "I should have known that no matter how badly you were behaving, you shouldn't have been hit." He grumbled, annoyed and ashamed. "But, but I let-let Pa get into me, and, and I just thought-!" Seb raised a hand calmly. "Hey, it's ok...you were also just a child, ok? And human children are dumb. It's not your fault…"

"I hated you." Ford blurted out quickly and Seb stopped, confused. "Excuse me?" Ford quickly worked on a way to explain. "I-I didn't really, but-but I-I feel like I did, but I didn't know that! I didn't know I was feeling that way…" Ford took a deep breath. "I...I thought, Pa said I shouldn't be like you, because...you know, you were like you were, and I, I somehow ended up not...liking you very much...and thinking you were so annoying and just...the person I shouldn't be, to be more than just a freak and be worthy, like-like Pa said...I'm so sorry…" He had treated Seb so terribly because of that as they grew up...

Seb was silent for a long time, fidgeting with a pawn, and Ford feared he managed to hurt his brother again, but his brother finally spoke up. "...He called you a freak?" Ford nodded slowly. "He...implied it, it wasn't direct but he always said 'more than just' so by logic he thought I was one."

Seb looked furious right now. No, it couldn't be! Filbrick only insulted  _him_! He spent so much time hitting him that Seb thought the man wouldn't have the energy to hurt his other brothers! Why would he even call Ford not worth it?! He was a child genius! Was some stupid extra fingers really too much for that man to tolerate?!

"I recall this one time when we were kids...you told us he called you dumb after getting a bad grade, to…'make up...for your hands…'" Seb frowned. "You can't be serious that it happened more than one time!" Seb didn't care if Filbrick had basically told Ford to hate him, he was pissed because he had used SEB as a way to make Ford hate HIMSELF!

"Filbrick you fucking asshole!" Seb hissed, making Ford jump. "It's one thing to treat  _me_  like shit, I could take it! But Ford?! That-" Seb took a few deep breaths to calm down. "Well, you're okay now right?" Seb turned to Ford and clasped his hands. "You don't hate yourself, right?"

Ford was a bit shocked but he managed to shake his head. "I was just insecure about my-my hands." Seb stood up angrily, knocking the chess board but with his powers he quickly caught it and left it floating. "Your hands! Its-" Seb smiled sadly. "I don't understand, Sixer...how just one little extra digit on your hands and feet could-could be seen like some sort of...monstrosity! It's just fingers! And you have perfectly functional ones!" It hurt the youngest triplet so much to learn this, Ford had no idea. Knowing Ford didn't want to be a freak like him was fine, Seb was weird as a kid, but little Ford was told that if he wasn't more than perfect, he'd be a freak, his abilities wouldn't matter shit because his fingers made him a worthless freak like Seb by default, and so he had to avoid being freakish so he wouldn't be treated like Seb.  **WHY**?!

"He never understood...That stupid asshole! Your fingers were fine! Even the doctors said so when Filbrick wanted them to cut them off!"

Ford opened his mouth to speak, but when he heard the last sentence he went silent and it took him a while to recover his voice. "Wha-What do you mean? Ma-Ma and Pa wanted to...cut them first?" So they DID try making him normal…

Seb didn't seem too happy about it though. He went to the kitchen to eat something as he ranted. He grabbed a gerber baby food and a spoon. "I mean yeah? You don't know? Oh right, you all don't remember being babies…" Seb took a spoonful of apple baby food to his mouth. "We were around 9 months, I think. It was around the time Ma was trying to change breastfeeding for bottles, but you didn't like it and you always cried when she didn't let you suckle her-"

"OK! Moving on- **Continue**!" Ford shrieked red-faced. He didn't need to know that.

"And well, Filbrick told Ma, about searching for a doctor to remove our extra fingers and my eye. Ma was reluctant but Filbrick didn't give a shit so we all went anyway." Seb continued, stopping from time to time to hum at the deliciousness of this baby food. "This doctor made the exams and stuff and he said he wouldn't. "

"And, and why not?"

"Because surgeries are delicate and dangerous, Brainiac." Seb rolled his eye. "If you have a perfectly healthy baby, who doesn't have deformed or half formed hands, whose fingers are fully functional and fully developed with all that flesh and bones and nerves and stuff, why would you risk damaging said fingers trying to remove one?" Seb laughed humorlessly. "The doctor was afraid that attempting to take off perfectly functional fingers would damage the nerves and paralyze our hands, crippling us for life." What a weak nerve system to be honest, if you asked Seb.

Stanford froze. He hadn't even thought about that. He rubbed his fingers. His hands could have been crippled… that… that would have been even worse than having six fingers, because then he wouldn't even be able to hold books or write or-

"They did try to remove my eye though." Seb shrugged. Ford looked up at that. "What?!"

"Yeah. It was scary as shit. And it hurt!" Seb grimaced. "Don't know why the anesthesia didn't keep me knocked out, probably some good ol' negligence, but in the middle of it I woke up, but the doctors didn't know… I couldn't scream and-the doctors didn't stop...Probably didn't even care...Worse of all is that it didn't even work!" Seb rubbed his eyepatch a little bit. "The fucking thing grew back just as it was almost gone, I think it was due to my fast healing or my nature, who knows. It  **Freaked**  the doctors out. And it was hours of surgery that I was forced to remember which didn't even do shit." and Ford felt sick all over again. Seb had his eye removed- and he had to remember it?! Feel it as it was happening?! And after all that pain, his demon eye simply grew back-

"At the end the doctors told Ma and Filbrick that they couldn't because of some doctor bullshit, but I wasn't at risk with my 'blind eye'...You should have seen Filbrick's face when he realized he wasted thousands of dollars on me for nothing…" Seb winced. At least Filbrick didn't take it out on him for that (he just raged and shouted at his mom because he was an asshole), and Ma cuddled him a lot afterward.

Seb looked at Ford's wide-eyed expression, not really noticing his brother's more than horrified face as he was making his own epiphany of a different nature. "Hey~ Maybe that's why Filbrick hates me! Because he wasted so much money on me, and I never managed to pay him back for it." Seb gasped softly and licked the now empty container. "What a realization, I should tell Linda about it."

Ford felt sicker than before. He felt like throwing up. He was still holding his hands tight. He had always wondered why he never had had surgery to remove his fingers and knowing not only his father tried to remove them, but he got angry and insisted on it despite the doctor's refusal for baby him's well being (an irrational decision that could have left him crippled)… and Seb's own failed surgery, which could be the reason their Pa hated him… he ran a hand through his hair. "Oh fuck...holy fuck…I'm so sorry…" Ford pulled his brother into a hug, shoulders shaking. He had always being so self-centered, thinking only about himself and pitied himself for being such a freak, that he never thought of his brother's own fears and insecurities, that he might have felt just as sad as him..., just taking his condition as some sort of  _fact_! Ford knew that Ashton had pointed this out, but to hear it from Seb directly…

"Our father… wasn't a very nice man, even if he spent money on you for nothing, that's… that's not an excuse for…" Ford winced. Was that why their father had thrown Sebastian out for breaking his project? Because he'd cost them millions- that might have been able to pay back the surgery? Not that still wasn't an excuse. Filbrick had been hard on Sebastian for their whole lives and it wasn't...

"You shouldn't have had to go through that…" Ford whimpered. Seb's frozen body slowly relaxed to hug Stanford back. "Eh, it happened. Better that if was me and not you or Stan. Or Shermie. God if Filbrick had ever laid a hand on Shermie I would have bitten it off." Seb half-joked.

Seb patted Ford's back gently and laid his head on his shoulder. "Its ok… we're fine now, we won't see him again, ok?" Seb felt Ford nod. "Do you still feel the same about me?

"N-NO! Of course not!" Ford gasped. He didn't hate Seb anymore, not once he'd finally realized that had been what he was doing, unconsciously.

"Then what Filbrick told us shouldn't matter shit!" Seb kissed his forehead and Ford laughed sheepishly. "Did-Did you just kiss me?" Seb nodded shamelessly. "I love you, piece of shit, accept my love!" Ford laughed and patted Seb's head, unable to really kiss him back, it was too weird to think about. Kissing was something their mom did to show affection, he wasn't… he couldn't do _that!_

Seb giggled. "Well come on, I'm hungry and I can't just keep eating baby food."

Some sandwiches and juice boxes later, neither of them felt like sleeping, despite how it was late (for Ford that was normal though). They wanted to make up for the lost time.

"So...How about we play now? I didn't take this out for nothing!" Seb motioned at the floating game and put it on the floor. He sat down cross legged and with his powers moved a pawn. "Your turn!" He put one arm behind his head.

Ford smiled and sat down as well, sheepishly wiping a wild tear. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" He teased. Seb definitely knew he used to play with Bill.

"Of course, I'm testing you~"

Ford didn't mind though. What Seb did was HIS, not Bill, it had a new meaning if his brother did it, that's why this was fine, this was  _great_. He finally felt like he was bonding with his triplet.

He moved his first pawn.

Ford was back in Gravity Falls the next day. The two fell asleep during their 8th round of chess (Seb won 6 of them and claimed he let Ford win the others because he was tired), and they woke up with Wanda's stern "Don't you have to leave already?"

And in fact, he had, his flight was in a few hours. Shermie and the twins were leaving later because father and daughter liked to sleep and didn't feel capable of such a big responsibility that was waking up early.

Hours later Ford was back home and found Fiddleford in the center at night when Ford burst into Fiddleford's lab. "FIDDLEFORD, I DID IT!"

"Jesus freaking Christ!" Fiddleford clasped a hand over his heart. "Don't scare me like that Stanford!" He almost dropped the screw he was holding. It would have been annoying to have to find it again.

...from inside Ford's body as Fiddleford had been ready to throw it straight at his friend in shock.

Ford was grinning widely as he ran up and perched himself on the edge of Fiddleford's workbench. "I'm back." "I can see." Fiddleford deadpanned. "And I talked to Sebastian. The twins were also pretty happy to see me, Zully's doing fine, she's just bald now, and I think I did pretty good, if I can say so myself! Wanda still hates me though, but I think I can live with that for now..."

Fiddleford nodded. "Ah, well, that's good, right?" He couldn't help but notice how happy Ford looked. He was glad everything went fine with Sebastian. Those two deserved that closure. And then Ford told his friend about what he'd learned from Seb about their father's thoughts on their respective deformities and Fiddleford dropped his screw. He clutched his screwdriver in his other hand as his hands shook. "Yer Pa did that…" Fiddleford couldn't believe any father would be able to do that to their own child. His own Pa had been hard on him for "Bein' inta that wacky mo-jo science shit!", but even he had never treated him like how this Filbrick treated his own sons.

Fiddleford twitched as his urge to 'build a giant robot to rampage against the person who makes me angry' demanded for him to head over to Jersey and tear down a certain Pawn Shop...

And he actually did. He started building his masterpiece to avenge his friends, but he accidentally spoiled it to Stanford, who immediately tried to stop him. "You don't need to do that!"

"But he deserves it!" For hurting them!

"But you already got arrested once! And I don't want to go through that again!" Ford insisted. After a long discussion, Fiddleford agreed to desist, but Ford knew he kept the blueprints somewhere. He still appreciated his friend's concern for his sake. Even if it was in a very weird way of expressing it.

-.-

"You will stop calling your uncle that, you'll feel HAPPY for the two of them making up and you'll stop being a brat or we are going to have problems, is that clear?!"

Dillon glared at his dad and after a hissed "Fine." He went to his room. Ugh! Just because he was still angry at Ford, Dad got angry at him. He was glad Uncle Seb was happy with him again, because he deserved to he happy, but why couldn't he still feel upset? Ford had been  _mean_!

They visited Sebastian, Wanda and the twins a few days ago and he was glad he didn't see Ford then!

Dillon curled up on his bed and fumed. After a while of cursing at the uncle he barely knew, he took a deep breath. Ok,  _he_  was being very mean now. If Uncle Seb forgave him, then he should too...but...he'd still be distant because Uncle Ford never really talked to him. And to be honest, Dillon still didn't know how to feel about uncle Ford. He was always being so… unapproachable, as if Dillon wasn't  _worth_  talking to. Always locking himself in his lab and only wanting to talk to Dipper whenever they went over. Uncle Ford was weird.

Dillon turned to face the ceiling and exhaled. He was sure he was grounded. He was bored now dammit, but he didn't feel like moving from his bed to do anything. So he grabbed his phone and checked his messages. One of them made him smile wide.

He had been taking French at an institute for a few years now and this semester a cute boy joined. Ginger, freckled, and so adorable. He sucked at French though. (Not sure how he was in Dillon's class). They became friends after being class partners, Dillon did all the work and tutored him. This message was actually from the boy attempting to write in French. "Salut copine! help moi (idk the word :p) Je froid" His friend wrote, which wasn't that bad, ignoring the fact he called Dillon a girl classmate and that his friend was the cold, not that he was cold (since the weather's been getting colder).

"Copain*, aide* and j'ai*" Dillon wrote back, to which his friend replied with a "FUCK!" Dillon snorted and rolled around on his bed. His cheeks got warmer at the thought of the ginger choosing to write to him...He wasn't sure what Phillip's orientation was, but being with him was so amazing… "Phillip Abbott…" The teen whispered dreamily the name of his new crush.

"Don't worry, I won't stop until u know French." Dillon added an emoji and screamed when he realized he sent a heart emoji unconsciously. He quickly sent a laughing face with a * "Oops! Srry didn't mean to send that!"

Phillip took a second to reply, leaving him on seen, and Dillon panicked, thinking he made everything uncomfortable and that Phillip would block him and refuse to talk to him again, but his friend finally replied. And he sent a heart too.

"Don't worry, now were even~ And thanks! Ur the best tutor!" Phillip texted him. Philip also sent an emoji of a smiley face sticking his tongue out. Dillon snorted. Phillip was a few years older than him, but he swore the older boy was way more childish.

"I'm the BEST tutor!" Dillon typed back. "How've you been?" he added, since, well, might as well. Part of him wished he could see Phillip outside of French class, but Phillip was an 18 year old (so two years older than Dillon, who was 16) college student who was taking French because he realized he needed things to put in his CV. Dillon sighed dreamily once again. Phillip was a medical student and Dillon thought that was amazing. He was so cute and smart, he graduated high school early and was accepted into college so soon~~

At first he thought Phillip would be a mean person, with his piercings and full sleeve tattoos, but Phillip was the sweetest boy ever and Dillon wanted to kiss him but Phillip probably had a  _girlfriend_  (he must have! He was so cool and hot that he must have been snatched up by a girl at his college already!) and he just didn't know...

"Freezing to death in my room, wearing two pairs of socks and reading about cells! U?" Dillon suddenly felt a little special. Phillip was studying and stopped to talk to  _him_ ~?

"Oh well, here just...talking to you, wasn't doing anything important, though I have hw I wont do."

"Whaaaatt? Noooo do your hwww!" Phillip sent a sad face with a tear. "Is important for you to learn things! N u are so smart! Im sure its a piece of cake for u~"

Dillon squealed into his pillow. Holy cow Phillip called him smart! The boy procrastinated by talking to his friend until Phillip apologized because he had to read. Dillon said bye and sighed. Best afternoon ever.

There was a soft knock on his door followed by a "Dion! Foo!" And then his mom's "Ya heard your brother, dinner's ready!" Dillons mood was lifted up so he happily skipped outside to the table, so in love and so happy.

He even apologized to his dad for calling his dad's brother a piece of dickhead shit, so that meant he was  _really_  in a good mood.

As two year old Diego hit his food against the table with a loud "Bah, bah, bah!" Carla noticed Dillon smiling funnily. "Are you ok, kid?" She laughed.

"Haha, yeah! Its just...I like someone from my French class!" He blurted out before he could hold it back. Stan looked up from his food. "Aaww~ Is little Dillon in love~?" He laughed a bit. "I'm just teasin' ya. So, if you like her, why don't you invite her out on a date? Is she pretty?" Stan asked, interested in his son's life and willing to give him tips if necessary. Dillon fidgeted in his seat, his mood dropping. "N-nngh...I don't know if… if they like me back…"

"Pfft! Of course she'll like you back! Your mom and I made you!" Carla, despite how awkward this was, managed to giggle against her will.

"But what if...if it isn't  _just_...a-a girl?" Dillon sunk a bit in his chair, waiting for the worse. Stanley gasped. "Wait!  _Two_  girls?! You like  ** _two_**?! No, no, don't date two girls at the same time."

 _'I don't even like girls…'_  Dillon thought to himself sadly. He should tell Dad already but he was a coward, he wasn't ready yet.

Besides, he couldn't even date the people he liked, because he didn't have any luck. Like that boy from school a few years ago...They started dating but it didn't last long.

One. Because the kid was weirder than he thought. Two. It was all secret, no one knew. And three, the boy was even more closeted than he was and denied their relationship and insulted Dillon to his face when someone confronted them about it. He had felt so heartbroken that day than it forced him to tell his Ma. At least mom hugged him tight and said she loved him no matter what and that she didn't mind...

But Dad? Dad expected him to have a girlfriend and to like girls, he'd be so disappointed…

Dillon messaged Mabel for help the next day and she only said to tell his dad already and to ask the boy in his French class out. (And to send photos.)

Her advice was poop. Dillon couldn't just ask Phillip out! He didn't even know if Phillip liked him...but dating Phillip sounded...nice...

Dillon shook his head and sniffled. It was stupid to think about this. He couldn't date Phillip. He wouldn't date anyone in his life! He would eventually have to tell his dad that he liked a guy and that he would never like girls. And then he would have to live with his dad's disappointment the rest of his life, alone forever because no one will like him back. That wasn't a happy life in the boy's mind, but he didn't have any other choice...

-.-

"Hey Ford…" Fiddleford started. After making peace with Sebastian, he had seen his friend much better, happier, more energetic, like a content owl. Ashton really made miracles. Fiddleford was a living proof of that, just like Stanford. He saw Ford eat more, he interacted with more people other than Fiddleford, and, if Soos' words were to be believed, Ford hadn't had any nightmares recently.

The ONLY thing no one could solve though, was how much of a workaholic Ford was. No matter how much food he ate, or sleep he had, he ate WHEN he finished work, and he slept when he passed out from working. Fiddleford knew that it wasn't just a basic 'getting distracted' type of thing, Ford had a lot of tedious tasks he had to finish to get his work up to the level where the scientist felt was adequate to stop for now. Meaning Ford ended up spending most of his time simply getting prep-work done before he could actually run his experiments. With this in mind, Fiddleford came up with a solution.

"What do ye think of internships?" The blond had had this idea for a while, allowing an undergraduate or recent graduates to work here. So Ford could get help, or any of them for that matter. "They'd would be like an apprentice of some sort, we can teach them stuff and get help in return?"

Ford grimaced. "But I don't want strange kids running around in the center, even less in my lab!" He had wanted Dipper to be his apprentice back when his nephew was younger, but it was different, he was family and he trusted him. Who knew what those kids could do! He knew how college kids were and they could just come as some sort of vacation and cause more trouble than good!

Fiddleford waved a hand, "Well we can have 'em pass a test to get in. So only kids who are actually into science and have a decent knowledge and understandin' of it can even be allowed to have a chance of an internship here." He didn't plan to call just any kid either! Usually the internships are done by kids finishing their education, which will have to be related to science, OBVIOUSLY.

Ford wasn't very sure. He didn't want help, he didn't need it. "I don't know Fiddleford, I doubt this is a good idea." He shuddered at the thought of some kid messing with his stuff and research.

Fiddleford deadpanned. Ford of course didn't know what he was talking about, so he didn't give a single mcfuck about what he thought. The next day he was researching how internships worked and eventually opened up the vacants spots for around 10 different colleges. He didn't need to ask Ford permission for ANYTHING, the center was his too!

He couldn't babysit Ford all day, so he would get someone to do it FOR FREE! MWAHAHAHA!

It took Ford a while to realize what Fiddleford did. He only realized it when they received the letters from the colleges, the list included Backupsmore and West Coast Tech amount several other colleges, they were so grateful for the offered internships and that they agreed to follow the procedure Dr. McGucket required.

"F!?" Ford exclaimed wide eyed as he read the 10 letters. How could he?! He told him he didn't want this! How could he betray him like this?!

"Oh, don't overreact, Ford." The blond rolled his eyes. "This will be good for everyone! Just imagine being their age and being offered such an opportunity to come to a research center like ours~" He wrapped an arm around Ford's shoulder.

Ford scowled and Fiddleford laughed. "Listen, right now, there are only two open spots, as a sort of testing period. I will be vetting the entrants to see who we're going to allow in here. And I'll show you the profiles of the best options, Ok?"

Ford scowled harder. Worse of all, everyone in the center was excited to get the extra help, so he didn't have support in this. After almost a year of not facetiming with his triplets, he finally face chatted with Seb and Stan. The occasion? To rant about what Fiddleford did to him and how betrayed he felt.

Stan didn't feel like it was a problem, in fact, quite the opposite. "Yes! Interns are the BEST!" He laughed, slapping his leg. "You can boss 'em around to do everything for you! Bring you lunch, coffee, do your paperwork…" Stan grinned. "And the best part? You don't have to PAY them A CENT! Hahaha! You can do that… ah, what's it… work experience! HAH!" He did that with his own slav- er...interns!

Seb frowned. "Just because you don't have to shouldn't mean you don't! Unpaid internship is awful and you shouldn't force those poor kids to go through that." He huffed and folded his arms. He treated his employees correctly, didn't let them do whatever they wanted like Mabel did, he was a stern, but fair, deity.

"Sixer, you better be paying your interns or I'll kill you in my monster form! You too Fez! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

Ford blinked as he looked back and forth between his triplets. "Ah… so… should I pay them?"

"YES!" "NO!"

Ford ran a hand through his hair. "I'll let Fiddleford handle this because it was his idea. I guess they'd get food and a place to stay, right? Is that enough?" He got that when he was an intern too…

Stan laughed "Don't give them nothing!" As Seb scowled "Why are you like this?! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?!"

Ford sighed.

Teens throughout the country struggled to get the internship, and Wanda struggled with her new mission: to ask Seb to marry her. She wanted to do this, she felt that if she didn't do this, now, it would never happen. When she mentioned it to Alex and Johnny, they laughed at her disgrace. "Just like when you were teens!" They joked.

Wanda didn't find it funny at all. She was letting too much time pass! Their twins were growing up so fast. Zully went through a couple of months of rehabilitation and physical therapy after their casts were removed and now the baby went back to being the curious happy child they were. Zully's hair was still short (which the baby loved, unknown to their parents), but Seb and Wanda were hoping it'd grow back soon so they could braid it or give them adorable ponytails.

They were thinking the twins should go to a pre-school once they were a little older, they were 2 years old (soon to be THREE in a few months) maybe it was the best for them to interact with other children, they were very sociable, but they still didn't have control of their powers, and Seb didn't want them to reveal themselves in front of people who didn't know about weirdness. But he didn't want the twins to have no social interaction with children their age.

There were some other babies around the neighborhood and Seb had taken the twins to the park to play with them, but that was only for short periods of time. A daycare or preschool would allow for more time to be around other people. Wanda and Seb both also wanted their kids to be able to handle being away from them for periods of time, before they had to start kindergarten, just so they'd be able to acclimate to the idea of school.

Wanda considered this particular detail very important because the twins were extremely clingy, particularly with Seb. They went everywhere with him, when he was home they were playing in the same room, they napped with him, went shopping with him, accompanied him to the hairdresser, they even went to the clothing store when Seb checked it from time to time for business reasons.

She feared a future tantrum when they were forced to separate for school…

Wanda came out of her thoughts abruptly when she heard a scream. Seb wasn't home, he had to see someone to make a contract for a fashion show or something (she didn't understand the fashion world, just like Seb didn't understand law) so she went to see her crying baby.

Who wasn't a baby anymore, oh god. The year finished so fast! They were almost three… Toddlers, they were toddlers…

It was Zully, who, between tears and snot, explained that they couldn't find their blanket anywhere after they woke up from their nap. "I-I, I didn' see it and and I was scawed! Blankie! I wan my blankie!" they wailed. The twins talked constantly, learning new words every day. It was great because they could finally express what they wanted.

"It's ok, sweetie, we're going to find it, but don't cry ok? If you cry, we can't think where blankie can be." Wanda explained. Zully sniffled and wiped their tears. "Ok mommy…"

Zoe joined in the search for the yellow blanket. "Is not in kick-chen!" The little girl exclaimed. Zully searched in the bathrooms but it wasn't there either. Wanda thought they had washed it with some clothes accidentally, but it wasn't in the laundry. It wasn't in the car either. She called her mom, in case they left the blanket there, but nothing. She texted Seb, but the blanket wasn't with him either.

Zully was getting more and more desperate, and Wanda too. The damn blankie was gone. Seb came home and all hell broke loose, Zully went to sob over their daddy with all their might. Seb hugged the toddler and rocked them. "Oh, please don't cry, I'm sure it should be somewhere, princess." He cooed as the toddler hid their head on his neck.

However, when Seb talked to Wanda privately, he wasn't very positive. "Nope. It's gone, Wands, I think we left it in the park." He declared plainly.

"And what do we do then?" Wanda asked. Zully didn't like sleeping without it. Seb hummed in thought. "We bought that at the Mall, lets just buy her another one. We have to buy them some new clothes anyway." Seb shrugged. The only problem was that Zully loved that blanket because it was worn and liked the texture. It would take a while for the new blanket to be the same. But it was the best they could do.

They explained it to Zully ("Life is sometimes unfair, sweetie and things are gone and you just have to deal with it.") and the toddler reluctantly agreed after a lot of crying. They were still devastated though, blankie was gone and it made them feel so sad and alone. Zoe, not giving a fuck (kids were self centered at their age), was excited to go to the mall because she could get new toys and choose the clothes she liked.

They bought a new blanket there, just as bright yellow as the last one, which Zully hugged as a consolation gift and rubbed it sadly against their face. "Feel new and sad. Blankie has no life." Zully sighed heavily, far too heavy for a 2 year old. Wanda was sure Zully was just being dramatic, like their dad, and they'd forget about it in a few days. Well, Zully wouldn't. Just like the toddler was doing now, they would start to constantly rub their new blanket against their face or the couch or the wall or Seb's face (which annoyed him to no end), to try and get it to wear down back into the same state as their old blankie.

Apparently they really liked the way it felt, with the little bunched up fabric balls and frayed ends and wouldn't be satisfied until it felt perfect. (Wanda would eventually start to worry that Zully was obsessed).

But she didn't know about that yet. They had the blanket and she high-sixed Seb. Done. Now clothes. With the twins in those car shaped carts from the Shopping Mall the parents had to push, they walked among the people and examined each store as they made their way to the center were the store with lots of kids clothes were. Wanda's eye caught the name of a certain store. She almost didn't stop but she was forced to. It was a jewelry store with many beautiful rings and necklaces exhibited.

"Something caught your attention?" Wanda jumped when Seb came up behind her. "Wanna go in?" Seb offered with a smile. Wanda flushed. "Ah, you can go get the kids some clothes, I'm just going to look at something, I won't be gone long." Wanda waved him off. Well… actually…

"Wait. Come with me and just tell me which one you like." Wanda sighed. Would probably be easier.

"Oh, cool! Are you getting new earrings? I could use a new pair." Seb didn't take the twins out of their stroller prisons, in case they ran away, and the four entered the store. The woman behind the counter looked at them and smiled. "Hi, how can I help you?"

"My girlfriend saw something outside and wants to see it." Seb informed her. "Sure! What was it?"

Wanda pointed to a glass exhibition away from them. "Seb, can you get one of those necklaces, I liked them all but you have better judgement on stuff like that."

"Of course I do! I'm an expert on GOLD~ WINK!" He smirked and skipped away. When he was out of earshot, the blonde leaned closer to the seller. "I want to propose but he's a dummy and I want him to love the idea of marriage, help me?"

The seller looked down at the twins in the shared cart and cooed. "Well does he want to get married?" The seller asked. Wanda sighed. "He thinks it's just a societal and religious ritual that's pointless since he loves me and he doesn't need a ring to prove it, but I want to make our relationship official. It's not about the ring, it's about the legally binding contract and well… maybe it's a little selfish, but I want that."

The seller nodded slowly. "Well, you could always just get the paperwork done or…"

"But...I want to do...you know, proposing and having a nice memory with him…" Wanda looked at Seb debating at the necklaces. "It might just be me being a little silly, but I sort of want the party and everything. To celebrate us being together officially and all that." The woman nodded with a knowing smile. "He seems to like jewelry, you better choose the perfect ring."

Wanda groaned. "Help me do that? Please? I know nothing about jewelry!"

Wanda was lucky that this sales clerk was nice. Instead of pointing the clueless woman toward the most expensive rings, she instead asked her "Well what does your boyfriend do? Does he handle chemicals or use his hands a lot? I doubt he works with hard labor, considering how skinny he is…" And how delicate his hands looked...

And so it went, the clerk questioned Wanda about herself and Sebastian to match them up with the best rings that would work for them and their lifestyles.

Seb eventually joined them with the things he chose for his girlfriend. He wasn't really aware that all this was for the proposing, he thought this was for Wanda, so he suggested some pieces of jewelry and wanted to help. He spent a good time admiring a certain ring though, one with a little diamond that glowed a faint yellow with the light.

It wasn't missed by the women. Wanda knew he had to get this ring. Of course he cast it aside with a laugh "This is beautiful, but not for you." and continued searching for something for her, of course. Wanda sent a look at the other woman, who nodded in understanding. She casually took it for safekeeping and gave Wanda a card with the store number.

They left the store, much to the bored twins relief, with a thin golden bracelet Sebastian bought, and he chose a triangular pendant to go with it. Wanda loved it (and tried not to laugh when Seb mentioned he could check on her with it, that was so sappy and cute of him to say). Seb also got a few pairs of ratings for him and Wanda to share, they shared much of their jewelry. Most of it was officially Seb's though.

"We buy clothes now?" Zoe called from her cart, she was bored of driving it already!

"Yes, yes, don't be impatient, we're almost there." Seb rolled his eye. Kids.

Once there, he opened the doors of the car to free the twins and grabbed their hands. "Ok, listen, you little demons." The blonds giggled. "You two need shirts, so I want you to choose long and short sleeved ones, pants, and shoes. The little label on the collar and waist must show a 4. Mom and I will let you choose." Seb pointed at the color coded sections. "In this side, you'll find mostly pink stuff and on that other side, blue stuff. As long as its your size and the colors match, you can have it."

He freed them and Zoe ran towards the girls section because the shirts with sparkling sequins and bright colors caught her attention. Zully was intimidated to have so much freedom and clung to their mom instead. "I'll help Zully, you go watch Zoe." Wanda told Seb, and he nodded before he ran after Zoe who was pulling the clothes to the floor to see them. "Hey! Hey stop it!" He shouted.

Zoe flinched just a bit, and waited impatiently for her dad to show her the clothes. "I want this!" She pointed at a green t-shirt with a heart on it. Seb checked the right size and moved on. "Ok, but no more pulling."

"Okie! Can I get new dolly? The-the wons you can change cwothes!" Zoe grabbed Daddy's hand and jumped as she looked for a shirt she liked. "No, you destroy your dolls." Zoe always ended up twisting their limbs and heads off. He liked destroying stuff as a child too, but he didn't want Zoe to do it!

"Pwweasseee! I behave?"

"No, we came for clothes, maybe another day." Seb told her but the girl with green and brown eyes didn't like that answer. She had been so very patient in that store and she wanted new toys NOW! Zoe pulled away and started screaming on the floor. "AAAHHHH!  **I WANT DOLL**!"

Seb groaned and massaged his temples. Zoe kicked her arms and legs frantically, and they were starting to draw attention. "Zoe, stand up." He asked, but of course the toddler didn't listen. "Zoe Pines! I said stand up!" He ordered.

" **AAAAAHHHHH**!"

He was forced to pull her to her feet when her hands caught on fire and she tried to burn down a stack of clothes. With a headache, he dragged her away from the store, holding her hand firm so she wouldn't run away and to absorb her energy. "LET GO!" Zoe shrieked.

"Zoe, listen to me, we aren't going  _anywhere_  until you calm down." He slowly let go of her hands when it was fire free. "You know you're being insufferable right now, right?" Seb glared, eye flashing red for a second.

"N-not unsuf-able." Zoe whimpered as she rubbed her eyes. "I want toy!" Her heterochromatic eyes were full of tears.

"And I said we can get it some other day. Today is clothes day." Zoe went back to sobbing and Seb threw his head back. WHY HIM?! He flinched a bit when he heard a very familiar sound and he turned around to another corner where another dad was having the same problem with his son. But he resorted to an easier tactic and slapped his kid. His own brat shut up with tears in his wide eyes and Seb heard him ordering the boy to behave before going back inside.

"No hit me…" Zoe also noticed the scene apparently and whimpered. He took a deep breath and gently stroked Zoes cheek. "Hey...I would never hurt you, baby." And that was true, he couldn't bring himself to do what Filbrick did to him. "-but I want you to listen to me, ok? Or I'm taking you home and this entire day is over." He looked down at Zoe sternly.

"I want toy." She muttered, stubbornly like any Pines, and Seb nodded. "I know you want it, but you aren't getting it, even less if you scream and EMBARRASS ME and make me take you out of the store. I told you we can come some other day. Your screams only makes me want to NOT return and buy toys." He was a slave to his kids most of the time, but when it came to these sorts of things, to the real stuff, he needed to do a good parenting, he didnt take shit from anyone. Not even his kids.

"No...I want toys…" Zoe wiped her tears. She prefered waiting more than never having them EVER, though. "We...we come 'notheh day? Pwomise?" Seb nodded and pulled her to a hug. Zoe clung to his neck and whined. "Cawy me." She asked.

Ok, he could do that…

As Seb returned to the store to continue shopping, Wanda was following Zully who was looking at a dinosaur shirt, it was pretty cute. "This?" Zully smiled when mommy approved their choice and they put it in the bag they were using. As Zully was much more calm than Zoe, finding the clothes was a quick and easy process. they got a blue shirt with a green dinosaur on it, a white t-shirt with green and light blue stripes, blue and brown jeans, dark blue sneakers and a pink long sleeved dress which had a brown hood on it (Zully loved that) and it had a sheep on it (Zully loved that too. They loved animals).

"Is a sheep! Beeehh!" Zully giggled as they imitated a sheep. Wanda couldn't help but laugh. "That's a farm animal." Wanda told them with a smile.

"And the are mowe fawm animals! Like pigs and cows! And chick-ins!"

"Um, excuse me." A woman tapped Wanda's shoulder, interrupting her from the adorable scene. She was holding a girl's hand. "You're in the girls section."

"...Yes?"

The other woman rolled her eyes as if Wanda was stupid. "So take your son away! I saw you buying clothes in the boys' section minutes ago so send him there, you're making my daughter uncomfortable." Despite the woman's words, her daughter didn't seem to mind Zully, in fact, she looked more uncomfortable at the way her mother was squeezing her hand so tightly.

Wanda looked at Zully, who was looking up at the woman in confusion. The child's hair was still pretty short because of the surgery. "Her name is Zully. And we can buy wherever we want."

Zully frowned a bit when the woman gasped horrified. "Even worse! You're buying  _her_  boy's clothes! How  _dare_  you?! You're going to confuse her!" Zully saw the way mommy's eyes narrowed at what the other lady said.

Mommy took their hand to walk away (Intelligent decision. Mommy claimed to be very ra-tional and calmer than Dad, but she could throw fists if provoked out of the courtroom. Mommy was scary too). "Come, Zully, let's pay for this…"

Wanda huffed. What was wrong with people not minding their own business?!

Zully was confused at the woman's words. First, the woman called them 'he', like dad, and told them to go to the boy's section, which dad always called blue section, so the woman must be wrong, but then the woman called them 'she' like mommy, like everybody else did, and told them it was wrong to buy 'boys' clothes.

It was so confusing. Daddy never said there were stuff for  _just_  girls or boys...What made things for girls and boys that way anyway? Zully rubbed their head with a free hand.

What were  _they_  then?

Zully didn't mind when people called them 'she', mostly because they didn't know anything else, the child just assumed that must be because mommy and daddy called them so. But...being called 'he'...it felt...different. A nice different, actually. It was being like daddy, and Zully loved Mommy, but they prefer being more like daddy! 'Shes' had lumpy chests and longer hair and 'hes' had flat chests and short hair. And Zully liked having shorter hair. (It didn't get in their food while eating and they could clean it faster!)

"Mommy? That waady called me a boy." Zully looked up. "I know, just ignore her, sweetie. You're a pretty girl, doesn't matter if your hair is long or short." Wanda placed the clothes Zully picked out on the countertop so the clerk could scan them.

Zully frowned. What?! If it wasn't hair that made someone a boy or girl, then what?! "And what make a boy ow giwl?" Wanda stopped and thought. She decided she didn't want to talk about that in the Mall so she changed the topic. "Want a toy?"

"Yeah!" Zully exclaimed as they bounced on their feet. They had fragile memory and got easily distracted just like their dad. Zully got a plushie of a puppy that made sounds when you pressed its back and came with a baby bottle to feed it and a kit to take care of it if it got sick.

Wanda paid and they put the dog in a bag, much to Zully's complaints ("He won't be able to bweath!") The brown eyed kid didn't throw a tantrum though. When they met back with Seb and Zoe ( who got Batman shirts, more dinosaurs shirts, pants with flower patterns and bunny socks) at the entrance, Seb freaked out when Wanda told him she bought Zully a cute toy. "But I just told Zoe we wouldn't buy toys today! She threw a tantrum and I had to take her out, are you kidding me?!" He hissed-whispered.

"Oops."

"Thanks, Friedmann."

They couldn't return the puppy now that Zully had showed it to their twin before it could be stopped and Zoe wanted one too. She glared at Seb for lying to her. Getting toys for Zully and not her?! Like their uncles did months ago?! "NOT FAI'!"

Seb took the twins to the car with their shopping bags as Wanda explained that she didn't know that today wasn't a toy day but Zully had been on good behavior so they got a toy. Zoe was very upset but Wanda told her that if she was really good and behaved, she could get a toy next time they went to the mall.

Zully shyly offered to share their puppy with their sister. "But pwease dun wiip his head off." Zully told her. Zoe pulled off a perfect eye roll. "I dun wiip it! I  _bite_  it!"

And poor Seb had to separate the kids before Zoe really bit the puppy and made Zully cry. Wanda sighed. Why'd their kids have to take after Seb? In opposite ways too! Zoe got Seb's hyperactive maniac tendencies, and Zully got Seb's over-emotional sensitivity. Wanda made a mental note to try and at least teach the kids her own brand of common sense. They would  _really_  need that.

-.-

Ford was quite unhappy. Fiddleford and the others were thrilled to meet the new interns but Ford thought this was all a waste of time.

"They passed the exams I sent put wi' flying colors Stanford. They're really the best of all the applicants." Fiddleford patted his shoulder. Ford was being so petulant about this. Fiddleford sighed. "Why don't you want interns?" He asked. Ford shuffled in place as he looked away. "They just…" he tried to come up with an excuse but he knew Fiddleford would see right through them so he went with the truth. "I'm afraid they might leak our experiments on that… Social Media thing I've heard so much about." And Ford didn't want anyone knowing/stealing their ideas and innovations! They already had to deal with spies from other companies trying to sneak in and steal valuable research data.

Fiddleford hummed, stroking his chin in thought. Part of him was laughing at how Ford was such an old man trapped in a young(ish) body. "You know, teens live off their cell phones. We can always take them away and give them limited ones? For calls only and the phone won't allow them to take photos or access any social website."

"So, give them real phones…?" Ford raised an eyebrow. "When did phones stop being used to call ANYWAY?"

Fiddleford laughed at his exasperated face and patted his back. "Don't worry, it will work. We'll tell them it's for safety precautions. Get those wrinkles off your face and coat, you have to look perfect when they arrive!" The mechanic turned away and Ford pouted. "I don't have wrinkles…" he rubbed a hand across his face self consciously.

A group of scientists were already waiting, they were very curious about the kids. There was a tourist bus parked for the Shack, but it was already leaving, so the kids arrival would be less noisy.

Eventually, another bus pulled up and a smiling girl skipped out, carrying a duffle bag and a backpack while the boy behind her was pulling out a big suitcase, grimacing at the trees and grass (and bugs!) and just wanting to get inside already.

Stanford and Fiddleford received them at the entrance, under the sun of the starting summer. "Greetings, I'm Dr. Pines, he's Dr. McGucket, it's...a  _pleasure_  to have you here Ms. Se, Mr. Lodge." Ford said politely because what else could he do? They were already here.

The two stared at them with equally awed expressions. It boosted Ford's ego. Just a little.

"V-Viola…" The girl stuttered. "You can call me Viola, Dr. Pines, if you wish…" Fiddleford looked at the boy. "And what's your name?" He knew it, he just wanted the boy to introduce himself.

"Tyler, Tyler Lodge, Dr. Mcgucket, I'm from West Coast Tech,  _first_  in my class, I'm studying Physics and I'm utterly sure I'll be of great help here and will learn a lot from you and your team." His tone was very superior as he straightened out, looking very self assured of himself. Fiddleford nodded and turned to Viola. "And you miss? What's your field of study?"

The girl tried to straighten up and look as confident as Tyler was, "I'm Viola Se from-from...Backupsmore…" She smiled a little when the two scientists nodded with a smile of their own. "Chemistry major, with a minor in animal biology, my focus is on frogs." she blushed when Tyler laughed. "You study  _frogs_?" Tyler stared at her. Viola seemed to shrink in on herself. "They're cute." she pouted. "And the secretions from their skin are fascinating to study…"

"Well you're in luck." Fiddleford grinned. "There're plenty of frogs here in Gravity Falls, I can show you the mud pits where I used ta farm 'em. 'Course, that was back when I ate 'em but… well…"

Ford nudged him in the ribs and forced a smile. Viola seemed fascinated, Tyler was just disgusted. "We...should probably come in…I guess we will give you a tour around and show you the sleeping quarters…" He started walking with his hands behind his back and Fiddleford trailed after him. "Ate them? Seriously?!" Ford hissed at his friend. Fiddleford rolled his eyes. "They're delicious, I'll have ya know."

Tyler pushed in front of Viola and walked in first. "No offense, Viola, but we both know which college is superior. I'm surprised you made it here considering you couldn't even get into a decent college." The boy walked faster to catch up with Ford and Fiddleford. Viola gasped and was stunned for a second before running up to him.

"You are not better than me just because you-" Viola glared and Tyler laughed as he interrupted. "Oh, of course I am,  ** _I_**  got into West Coast Tech through my grades and my parents paid off my tuition so I don't have to struggle with debt for the next twenty years. My parents even paid for extra education, extra courses that matter and will make me a useful, competent professional. But don't worry~ Dr. McGucket seemed interested in your little  _frog_  thing. Not surprised that's the best you could come up with, in a college infested with bugs."

"It-It's not! It was-It was just a phase from the 70's to the 90's, but everything is clean now!" She defended her school, but that only made Tyler laugh harder.

Viola stopped walking and she gulped down the lump in her throat. Tyler called out in a surprisingly sweet voice. "Come on Viola, we have to catch up to them, you don't want to get lost in here, do you~?" he sounded sincere but that was only because the two older scientists had stopped to see what was the hold up. Viola clenched her fists but refused to let this bother her. She couldn't get into West Coast because her parents couldn't afford it. And the scholarship had a cut off point for how many people they allowed in, and she just didn't make it. But she had heard that Backupsmore was actually a pretty decent school nowadays (despite the name) and when she did some research into it, found out that it was due to many donations to the school from some alumni.

The same alumni that she was now hoping to learn from in this internship. It wasn't public knowledge that Dr. McGucket and Dr. Pines went to Backupsmore but one of the old professors at the school had talked fondly about them once. (He spent the entire class talking about how great they were, instead of you, know, the actual class. It was still pretty entertaining though). It gave Viola hope, since, if they could do so well, then she should be able to as well. With some hard work and perseverance! (And a whole lot of luck and social connections to these great scientists through this internship…)

And, best part. This was going to be a PAID internship! Viola let that knowledge put a spring back into her step. Fuck Tyler, she was going to work hard on her internship and learn everything she could. And if Dr. McGucket really could show her where the frogs were, well, she could work on getting more data for her own research paper!

They continued the tour. They talked about safety and forbidden areas, which Tyler looked like he wanted to check out until Dr. McGucket told him it was because some areas had high radiation and they were forbidden ("Unless ya want SUPER cancer! In which case, go right in. But then we'll be gettin' some trouble because apparently letting yer interns get themselves killed is wrong or sumthin'!")

"The contract you signed didn't make us legally responsible for any damage you can suffer." Ford deadpanned at the kids. "So listen carefully to Fiddleford's safety warnings because I don't care about them and I will  _not_  repeat them." Frankly, Ford thought that if they were going to disregard the safety warnings and kill themselves, then it was their own fault. But Fiddleford said that morally speaking, it wasn't nice.

Tyler and Viola nodded quickly.

As they walked, they encountered some other scientists and Viola waved kindly at them. Her smile was contagious and made everyone smile and wave at her as well. Tyler rolled his brown eyes.  _'Suck up.'_  He thought hypocritically.

They passed by the cafeteria, Ford said they could get breakfast, lunch and dinner there using their ID cards (which were given to them on a lanyard) or go into town and buy food there. Either way they got an hour break for lunch and were expected to be ready at 8:30 am. Tyler groaned a bit. Too early, he never took morning classes! Viola nodded. 8:30 am was pretty late, she was normally up at 6 in the morning, it was great to get everything done with time to spare, so she didn't have to rush in the morning.

"And your rooms!" Fiddleford gave the teens the keys. "Don't lend anyone your keys, ok? This is your place for 3 months." The rooms were very simple. A bed, a desk, a lamp, a closet and bathroom. No need for anything more.

"When you are ready unpacking, meet us in the lounge." They needed to talk about the ' phone policy' for Ford's peace of mind.

Viola and Tyler thanked them and watched the two scientists leave. "Look, Tyler. I don't want to fight with you. Why damage such a great experience by being mean to me for no reason? So, how about minding our own business?"

Tyler blinked and looked inside the room. He grinned like the shit he was. "Look, there's a bed~ I bet you haven't seen one in Suckusmore~" He slammed the door behind him and Viola massaged her temples.

Idiot!

And then they went out and were told about the no Social Media rule. Neither of them liked the idea of being disconnected from the world. "I swear we won't share anything!" Tyler pleaded, and Viola was surprised to find herself agreeing with the asshole.

Fiddleford bullshitted some more 'phone policy' crap to them (like how they didn't want people being distracted on their phones while working in case of accidents) while Ford nodded solemnly. Eventually the teens agreed, sniffled, and gave away their phones. "You can use them when you're in your rooms or outside the Center."

"Go find some lab coats, we want to show you something." Fiddleford shooed the two interns away. Then he turned to Ford. "You made two teens cry, are you happy?"

"Very much so." Ford smirked.

Tyler and Viola came back, wearing labcoats and Stanford led the two to the basement. Viola shivered, this place creeped her out. "What will you show us, Dr. Pines?"

Ford didn't respond, he prefered being cryptid and mysterious about it. They entered an elevator. Tyler looked around cautiously, wondering if it was a good idea to come here alone.

They reached the bottom and immediately gasped. The room was piled up with metal after metal. There were some bigger pieces hanging from the roof with metal chains, forming a basic inverted triangle from.

"What is this?" Tyler whispered, in fear at the huge structure.

"A mistake." Ford replied. "A project I dismantled for the good of everyone. But, it's also a reminder. To do better. We created this with the intention to make our knowledge more vast, but we only endangered humanity. So, this reminds me that our work can and should be done to help people, to make things better."

"You...You dismantled it, but you could put it back together, can't you?" Viola asked, looking up at the tall man.

"No, I got rid of the instructions so no one can fix it again."

"And...what was it?"

Ford waved a hand. "It's not relevant! I just wanted to show you. As a way to inspire you…" He came here sometimes. To inspire or hurt himself, he didn't know. The memory of the portal and what it caused made him sad, but determined to do better. He wanted the same for the interns who would be scientists someday.

Even if he didn't want them, he took his mentor job very seriously.

"Are you inspired to do better than this chaos bringer machine?" Ford asked the two as they headed back up the elevator. ""Absolutely."" The interns said before glaring at each other. They didn't fully understand what the problem with this machine was, but it clearly meant a lot to Dr. Pines.

"Good. Now, there are a few more rooms to show you upstairs. We will measure dangerous toxic chemicals and you will bring the equipment." The teens followed Ford back to the bright elevator and the dismantled portal was cast once again in darkness as the doors closed.

-.-

Meanwhile~

"So I got the rings. All that's left is actually proposing to him and getting the wedding set up." Wanda told Carla over the phone. Carla giggled. "Well that's gonna be a lot of work."

Wanda rolled her eyes. "Yeah well, how did your wedding go? Can you give me any tips?"

Carla opened her mouth and then paused. "Ah…" she frowned. Wait… "Oh my  _god_." Carla whispered.

"What? What's wrong?" Wanda asked, a little worried now.

"Stan and I haven't gotten married yet… we're still JUST engaged…" Carla whispered over the phone, horrified at the sudden realization. She glanced at her ring, comfortably sitting there for SIXTEEN YEARS!

Probably even before that!

Carla had to take a second to sit down and process the realization.

"What?" Wanda leaned back on her chair. "You can't NOT be married yet? Are you sure?"

"Girl, do you think I'd be having a heart attack right now if I had gotten married?-HOW?!" She traced back to before she was pregnant. Stanley proposed to her one dinner and it was beautiful. Their moms were happy to hear it...Shermie was still being a brat at that time...Seb hadn't called yet...Ford was locked up in his house...No, they never actually started planning after that. And then Stan and Ford when missing for 13 years...

"After-After Stan came back we focused on Dillon's well being, we wanted him to be happy and-and I finally felt complete with him back...Then I got pregnant again and it was baby chaos and worrying for Dillon again! Did I just ASSUME I was married or what?!"

Wanda was actually very surprised to hear this, she would never have guessed otherwise. "Perhaps you just...yeah, you never felt there was a reason to not be? I mean, I didn't plan to get married, but now I think it's necessary."

Carla laughed at her sister in law. "Well, now I think it's ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY that Stan marry me, what the heck?!" She exclaimed before gasping. "GIRL!"

"What?" Wanda's green eyes widened.

"You know what would be absolutely amazing?! You need to convince Seb the marrying experience can be nice, right? And I need to get Stan to finish what he started (can probably get another ring out of the ordeal, hahaha!), so~"

Wanda gasped when she caught the idea. "We can get...married together. Sebastian loves his brothers and what better than having a DOUBLE WEDDING with one of them!" She laughed and swung around on her chair. "Carla, that would be GREAT! I'd love to get married with you!" then she paused. "Wait, that sounds weird…"

Carla laughed. "It does! But, I feel the same actually. I'd love to have a double wedding." If Carla was honest with herself, she would prefer to be on her own, this was supposed to be her moment with Stanley… but it was a sacrifice she was willing to pay. She lied to Wanda for 13 years, lied about the Stans and Seb, and she lied to Sebastian, kept him working on a portal without help, alone and with no one there for him (knowing he had had anxiety since way before made Carla wince. All those times her friend could have been there alone, banging his head or cutting…) What she did wasn't fair. It was so mean and selfish…

Besides, it wouldn't be  _that_  bad, in fact, it didn't have to be bad at all! She loved being with Wanda, she was amazing, and Seb was her friend and Stanley's best friend. This would be really fun!

"Ok, I won't tell Seb yet!" Wanda giggled. "I-I will propose and then surprise him! You do the same?"

The women schemed together long into the night, laughing maniacally as they went.

-.-

"Seb...Seb please…" Linda covered her face. "Please stop crying…"

"I-I can't believe you're LEAVING!" Seb wiped his eye. "Who am I going to complain to now?!"

Linda chuckled. "You don't need me anymore. You've come so far. And you can still call me, we can schedule chats online. I only really accepted this session because I care about you and you wanted to tell me something important…"

The former demon huffed. "You would have turned me down! Ouch!" Linda laughed again and he sighed, resigned. "Where are you going anyway?"

"Los Angeles, I already have a place to go and I'm pretty excited about it. I'll leave next week..."

"I'm happy for you." Seb said, not really sounding happy at all. Linda laughed again. "Ok, ok, tell me what was so important, Seb."

Seb wiggled. The place looked so empty without the books and decorations. "Well, I had a vivid flashback to when I was a kid…"

"Oh? How so?"

"Um...Zoe wanted to steal my giraffe stuffed toy, Markimoo and I stopped her, but because she's a brat she started screaming and DEMANDING my toy, you know?! So I told her to buy one herself!"

"Very reasonable with a 3 year old." Linda raised a sarcastic eyebrow and Seb nodded. "Exactly!"

"And I pulled it away but it tore a little...I called Wanda to take Zoe away because I was ANGRY, and worst of all was that Zoe didn't even apologize!"

"Well, she IS just three, Seb, if you want her to apologize, you have to teach her to do so." Linda smiled a bit. "The biggest part of being a parent is teaching your kids right from wrong." Seb groaned. "But I DO that! But she's still doing this!"

Linda chuckled. "Well, I suppose you'll have to keep at it. Be patient and explain fully and calmly exactly why she can't have what she wants all the time."

Seb nodded. "Ok, I guess. But Zoe is stubborn like Wanda. It'll take a while." Linda snorted. Sure. Like Wanda. "And what does this have to do with your childhood?"

Seb rubbed the back of his neck. "Well...it reminded me of my...my first toy…which is now lost forever…"

**((((((((((((Warning for Seb's abusive childhood))))))))))))**

_Seb sniffled as he hugged the broken toy to himself. Everyone was angry at him now, and were talking about how he was such a problem, but he managed a small smile. He did it. HAH! Take that suckers!_

_"Sebastian keeps breaking school property." The principal of the school told Kari and Filbrick as the toddler wiggled between them. "We already talked about this and warned that this is the last time. I talked to the school board and they require you to pay for what he broke, and he's suspended for a few days."_

_Kari rubbed her eyes and sighed tiredly. Baby, why?! Seb smiled. "Can I pick up my backpack? I left it in class!" His mom allowed it as the parents stood up and he sprinted back to his class, barely hearing Filbrick trying to negotiate to not pay the considerable amount of money._

_Seb looked around the room frantically. Head! Where was the head!? He looked everywhere, but not even the filling was here! He was forced to go to the principal's office and only had time to pick the body back up! The janitor was cleaning the board. "Hey! Whewe's the head?!" Seb demanded, waving his beheaded bear. The janitor shrugged. "Beats me, kid. Probably in the trash already."_

_"No, no, no, it can't be in the twash!" This all was useless if he didn't have the head! Mom and Filbrick appeared by the door and ordered him to grab his bag and leave. Seb whimpered and walked over to his parents. He flinched when Filbrick smacked his head._

_"Do you know how much I paid for your mess?" He hissed. "No…" the toddler whispered with a little voice. "I'll show you when we get home." Filbrick whispered with a threatening voice. Seb hugged his beheaded bear._

_The Stans covered their ears when they heard their brother sob, Dad was dragging him by a hand as he held the broken toy on the other. Seb sobbed louder when Filbrick grabbed his poor bear and threw it into the trashcan in the kitchen._

_Lee hugged his frog toy and whimpered._

_"Da-Dad! Please stop!" Seb grimaced, clenching his teeth as the belt hit his back nonstop. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt so much! "Pwease! S-Stop! STOP! PLEASE-E-E!" Seb pleaded desperately, tears streaming down his right cheek. It only made his dad hit him more, because he only reminded him of all the money Seb had cost him today. And he made him waste time, like always, because he was worthless. Filbrick made sure Seb heard that clearly as he beat him up. "We are going to count, ok?" Seb sobbed as he held to the bed sheets._

_"O-one…" Whip. "AA-AHH!" "What?! What did you say?!" Whip! Whip! "O-ow! Da-Dad!" "Start again!" Whip! "O-one" "Again! Do you know how to count, piece of shit?!" Seb felt like he wouldn't be able to go through this torture any longer. His small body was so fragile and weak..._

_It took forever to stop. And the small boy curled up under his bed, hurt, with his back and butt red and aching. He only wanted a toy, just a stupid toy...like, like the Stans got, like the frog he wanted and Stan got it instead. He tried his best to ignore Bill2's mockery. He dug his nails into his arms to shut him up._

_Sebastian carefully snuck out of his room hours later. He didn't want to see Filbrick again today and make him hit him again. The coast was clear. Sebas slowly went to the kitchen and looked into the trashcan for his bear. He destroyed this bear so it was his! He looked around the trash until he finally found it and sighed in relief. He knew it was dumb, feeling safe from hugging a toy, Bill2 said so, but he couldn't help acting like the little kid he was. And he needed this hug, his body hurt._

_Mommy came to comfort him much later, but she also told him it was wrong to break stuff. "Can you sew my bear?" "You brought it?" Kari's eyes widened. "I wanted to bwing the head too but couldn't find it…That way, Da-Dad don't-doesn't have to pay for a toy for me…" And all this started because Filbrick didn't want to waste 10 dollars on a toy for him too. 10 dollars he apparently wasn't worth._

_Kari agreed to sew the beheaded bear for her baby boy._

_When the waters calmed down, Ford was pretty excited to help name the bear. (Since he started talking months ago he hadn't stopped since) "I name thee, Robespieh!" Because he read a book about France where people's heads were cut off too. "Can I pway with him?" Lee asked excited._

_"No, kill you own toys!" Seb complained as he hugged Robespierre to his chest. Fordsie and Lee whined but didn't take the toy from him after that._

**((((((End of flashback))))))))**

Seb sighed. "I had Robespierre for years, he was actually my only toy growing up...If I'm lucky it's still in the attic with my old stuff...if not, then it was thrown in the trash with my old stuff…" He gave Linda a sad smile. Linda tried to return the gesture. After years of hearing Sebastian talk about his childhood, it was still hard to hear about his abuse.

"But, you know, even after remembering one of my worst beatings...I was kinda fine. I don't fear him anymore." He smiled gratefully. He  _finally_  feared NO ONE! Like it should have always been.

"There's no way I will go look for Filbrick, I hate him, but, I feel confident I could confront him if necessary and rip off one arm or two!-Just kidding~ Murder's BAD!" Seb nodded with fake seriousness.

Linda decided she would trust it was a joke, otherwise she'd get unnecessarily stressed. "You know, you talk a lot about your powers yet you have never shown them to me." She had resigned herself to think the monster past was all invented. Seb blinked and for a moment, he considered showing her… but...

Seb raised a hand to his lips with the index finger pressed against them in a 'shush' motion as he winked. "That's a secret~"

Linda deadpanned. "Okay then…"

Seb laughed maniacally. Her face was hilarious. But it was actually for her own good. Why expose her to the supernatural unnecessarily?

Neither of them knew what Linda was going to face when she moved to Los Angeles though...

Eventually, their time was done and Seb had to leave. "Thank you for everything, doc." Linda pulled him in for a hug. "I'm proud of you, Sebastian Pines."

"I know~ Thanks." Seb hugged her back with a laugh. "I'll give you a gift ok? Like, before you leave! No deal! Just from the kindness of my essential pumping organ!" He put a six-fingered hand over his chest. "But you have to wear it all the time!"

"No, you really don't need to…" The therapist started but Seb wouldn't take no for an answer.

And, well, she had to admit, the pendant she received from him was beautiful.

-.-

Stan was training in the gym with his teammates. Everyone was sweating and pushing themselves to try and beat their records. It was a competition to try and outdo each other for fun. A friendly rivalry.

"Uurgh!" Stan grunted as he blocked a tackle, he was pushed back a few inches before he managed to shove his training partner back. "Hah!" Stan cried as he pushed the other guy. People cheered. "Woo!" Stan raised his hairy and sweaty arms in the air. "Yeah! Ain't no one can knock ME over!"

"Well that's 6 to 0. None of us have managed to tackle you in any way that'd stop you." One of Stan's teammates, Luis, grinned as he added another tick next to the scoresheet. Dumb Stan! How was he so strong?! Stan laughed. "Keep trying guys. You'll get it eventually."

The door opened and everyone turned to see Carla. "Oh hey, it's your wife-" one of the guys started to say before Carla spotted Stan and rushed over, leaping into the air and full on body slamming him into the mat.

There was silence in the gym as everyone stared with their jaws dropped.

Even Stan, who's eyes were wide with surprise.

Carla sat up, straddling Stan with a scowl. "I WANT TO GET MARRIED!" She demanded. Stan let out a confused squeak. "But… we  _are_  married…"

Carla leaned closer to his face, teeth gritted and Stan whimpered in fear. Even his teammates took some steps back in precaution. The woman looked livid.

"You Think I'm crazy?! That I would come to this smelly place just to tell you this if it wasn't true?!" She pursed her pink lips. "Just exactly WHEN did we got married then? After you went to look for Sebastian in Gravity Falls? Or when you were ''kidnapped'' for 13 years? Or after having Diego?"

Stan opened his mouth to retort that she was  _surely_  missing something when he started to realize she was actually _right._  "Hot belgium waffles...We've been engaged for 16 years! Maybe even more!" He looked at his engagement ring with disgust.

"Booo! Bad Stanley! How could you have done thaatt!" His teammates started teasing as they laughed and recorded the scene on their phones like the assholes they were.

Stan groaned and slumped back on the mat. "We need to get married." He couldn't believe he forgot to! Carla glared. "We're getting married." She told him. Stan nodded. "Right. Of course."

"And you're going to pamper me and make me the happiest woman on Earth." Carla told him. Stan nodded. "More than I already do?" Carla narrowed her eyes and Stan laughed. "Right. Of course."

"And we're going to have a double wedding with Seb and Wanda." Carla added. Stan nodded. "Right of cour-" he blinked. "Wait-  _what_!?" His eyes widened and he stared up at Carla. "Seb and Wanda-they-they're getting married?! How come I didn't know that?!"

"Seb doesn't  _know_  it yet, but Wanda will make it happen~ And when it does, we will get married with them. We have to start planning while they're at it!" Carla looked up at the snickering men. "Ya heard it here guys! We are getting married!"

The team cheered. The coach, who was usually grumpy and didn't take shit from anyone, allowed this to happen and actually clapped along with everyone. "Stan! Stan! Stan!" "Free Food! Free Food! Free Food!" A few guys began chanting, hoping they could get Stan to pay for their lunch while he was in a good mood.

"For you all I'll charge $20!" Stan waved a fist at them, stingy as ever (despite being rich). Carla giggled and kissed his nose. Now they had to tell their sons about the good news, she was sure Dillon would love to hear it. Little Diego would be happy even if he didn't understand anyway. He was a happy little toddler.

Needless to say, the videos about the amazing new was eventually spread everywhere on social media and the reporters were already fighting over who would have the best photos of the double wedding.

-.-

"You weavin'?" Zoe and Zully stood by the door, glaring as their parents, who were still wet from a shower, were drying themselves so they could put on clothes.

"Yes. We're going to drink and party!" Seb exclaimed, earning a nudge in the ribs from Wanda. "We will have dinner outside, which is more boring." He huffed.

"Why you have dinner outside if-if we had dinner here?" Zully asked confused. Zoe nodded. "You gived us yummy mac n cheese! Wemember?" The little girl rubbed her tummy.

"Gave. And, it's because adults like to spend their money on stuff they don't need but want, anything else?" Seb grinned down at the toddlers in their Pjs.

"Yeah! You don't go!" Zoe stood on Wanda and Seb's bed in all her proud 95 cm (3 feet 1 inches), thinking she could intimidate her parents into not leaving. She puffed out her cheeks and glared. It was adorable, her parents both cooed, especially Seb. But he wanted to go, this was a special dinner! "Well, guess what, kid? We don't care what you think and we're leaving anyway." Seb finished buttoning his suit and adjusted his bowtie.

"Mommy, you weavin' us alone?" Zully asked fearfully as they climbed onto the bed as well with more effort than their twin. Wanda put on an earring and gently smiled down at the toddler. "No, of course not, sweetie. We called Mrs. Marshall, our neighbor? Remember? She made you cookies for your birthday~" The old woman liked to pamper the twins because her own grandkids lived far away.

"She will bwing us mowe cookies?" Zoe's eyes sparkled with joy. Seb laughed. "Nopey, you'll be asleep by the time she arrives." They were going to have dinner in a fancy restaurant, just the two of them, finally on a date together after 3 years of going to loud and noisy family restaurants or staying at home with the twins. Not that Seb minded, but it would be nice to have a quiet night out together with Wanda again.

They needed someone to watch the twins, but neither of them trusted strangers to babysit them. They wanted someone they knew and unfortunately (very  _conveniently_ ), Wanda's parents weren't in town. Seb was also worried about the twins showing their powers to some person who didn't know about the supernatural and scaring them so much they called the police. He didn't want to raise suspicion anymore. He was VERY close to going to prison for a long time when the FBI guys caught him with the portal and they were very clear about their intentions with him, they knew about his powers and what he could do. The thought of the government guys experimenting on his babies made his blood boil, quite literally.

He knew all their family's information was eaten by Gompers and the agents had forgotten about everything else when those memories were erased, but Seb didn't want to risk it and expose the twins. Seb had been teaching them how to keep their fire in (which didn't really work as they were just toddlers and it required basic concentration) and how to put it out (which was more likely to be needed and was easier for the little blonds). They needed to fully learn before they started preschool!

Seb and Wanda were almost sure they wouldn't be able to get out of the house until the kids were old enough to control their powers, but,  _as always_ , Seb came up with a BRILLIANT idea: to call their nice neighbor to babysit for them while they were out in their special dinner. They'd have to tuck the twins into bed first and leave them sleeping though. If they were sleeping, they didn't catch on fire, and no catching on fire meant Mrs. Marshall wouldn't have a heart attack if she saw them.

""Aaawwww"" Zoe and Zully grumbled as their parents picked them up to take them to their shared room. "Can you tell Mrs. Mawshall to bring us cookies anothew day then?" Zully asked with an adorable pout. Seb cooed internally and nodded. "We will, I also wiked her cookies~" Seb baby talked.

Putting the twins to sleep consisted of a simple process of sitting next to them, reading them some stories, and then singing softly to lull them to sleep. It sounded simple, but it took HOURS. That's why their dinner was so late at night. They needed  _time_.

They read some friendly Esopus and Jean de la Fontaine's fables to start teaching morality to a demon's children, and discussed with them that, for the last time, despite how the moral of the fable was to not believe everything people say, Wanda had to explain that the fox WAS wrong ("Because you can't lie to get away with anything you want, Zoe!") and then groaning at Seb's "I beg to diffe-oh right, we're teaching the kids!", Zoe and Zully started closing their eyes. It only took half a lullaby to have them slip off for real.

The two snuck out of the room quietly and met their neighbor by the entrance. "Enjoy your night~ I'll watch your little darlings~" the old woman smiled gently. She loved Wanda and the kids. And Sebastian was always such a handsome gentleman. It warmed her old heart to see such a loving family.

Seb and Wanda smiled and took a taxi to the fancy restaurant. It was a very very fancy, exclusive restaurant just for exclusive people. Sebastian was of course dressed as handsome as ever ("Please~ When do I EVER dress like a slob~?"), and he chose Wanda's dress and makeup for her when she couldn't figure out how to put together an outfit that matched with him. So pretty but so clueless. He sighed in exasperation over Wanda's lack of knowledge about how to fancy herself up. ("Well that's what I have  _you_  for, Sebas~") He smiled though. He still loved her, he had never felt so much love towards another non family person  _ever_. It was such a strange feeling. He didn't give two fucks for every single person on this planet because they were insignificant and unimportant to him, yet he adored ONE specific person, feeling capable of murder just for that person who wasn't his family… he wanted her to be family...

Wanda was pretty nervous about the dinner. She awkwardly fidgeted with her purse. She couldn't back away from this though! She had to do this! Carla was also counting on her!

They ordered their food and while they were waiting for the appetizers to arrive, Wanda couldn't help but nudge her foot against Seb's under the table, nervously trying to figure out how to drop the question.

"Ow! Wands, what are you doing?" Seb scowled. Fancy shoes were pointy!

"I'm sorry, just, just hungry!" Wanda laughed sheepishly. Seb huffed a bit but let it go. "Ok~well, if you want to do that footsie thing, take your shoes off first. I'm sure you can get away with having it off while we're sitting." He looked down at the table. And the tablecloth reached the floor so no one would see anyway.

Wanda sighed. That actually wasn't a bad idea, her feet were already hurting her. Damn high heels. Seb liked them and she agreed to wear them tonight. But he had no idea what wearing heels was like. She would fight her mom if she tried forcing her to wear high heels to her wedding! (Not that Wanda knew Seb actually DID know how it felt to wear heels, and actually quite enjoyed it, they made him feel taller.)

If she managed to propose to her boyfriend that is…

Seb started telling her about some new clients he had and Wanda was so proud of him. She just couldn't figure out a good way to drop the question in between his stories of the lady who wanted a transforming dress and the man who wanted a tuxedo that looked like a merman. (He got weird clients. Came with what the store marketed she guessed).

Their food was eventually brought out to the table and they softly talked to each other in between bites. Seb was talking slowly, softly drumming his fingers on the table (which people normally took to mean he was bored of the date and wanted to leave), but Wanda knew very well it was because he was trying not to get excited and stir crazy. In places like this, people spoke quietly, he didn't want to be embarrassed by shouting. Her baby~

She even knew all about this kind of stuff, why couldn't she propooseeee?! Maybe she needed to start changing the topic to them. Yeah, she should do that.

"I love being here with you, Seb...I love spending time with you." The blonde woman smiled and held his six-fingered hand. Seb grinned. "I love being with you too! You bring me joy. You and the kids. But the kids also stress and exasperate me, so I like being with you a little better." Wanda giggled softly at the way he explained it.

"Sebas...You also make me so, so happy, I'm so glad that...after everything we went through, we're finally together...And, that you trusted me enough to share your past with me, and your abilities...and...I'd love to spend the rest of our lives together, forever." Wanda blushed a bit. Seb kissed her hand. "That sounds amazing…"

Wanda slowly reached for her purse and took a deep breath. "Sebastian...would-would you-"

Seb's phone started ringing.

"-pick up your phone?" Wanda sighed in defeat and Seb laughed. "Hey~~ Do you have powers I'm unaware of?!" He reached for his phone, about to turn it off, but noticed it was Stanley. He needed to pick up this one. They promised they'd always be there for each other. "Sorry, it's stupid Fez…" He grabbed his glass of wine with his free hand as he accepted the call and placed his phone to his ear.

"What do you want?! I'm in the middle of something important, human!" He whisper hissed at his phone. Wanda rolled her eyes fondly.

"Oh, sorry for interrupting sex, but this is also important."

"We-We are not-Not everyone thinks about that all the time, nasty!" Seb stuck his tongue in disgust.

Stan laughed. "Well, anyway, did you know we're getting married together?! How cool is that?! I wanted to ask how we're gonna organize this and the decorations and-"

Seb snorted his wine through his nose (Wanda shrieked), and started coughing loudly. His brain stopped working for a second, brain cells short circuiting at Stan's words.  _Marrying_?! What?!

"Seb?"

"Whhhaaaat?! I'm not gonna marry  **YOU**! That's prohibited in human culture! AND GROSS! You're gross to marry too!  ** _EW_**!"

Wanda's eyes widened and she groaned into her hands. She was going to murder Stan for this! -Did Seb say he was marrying Stan?! What the-?!

"-if I was gonna marry ANYONE, it'd be WANDA!" Seb said decisively. Wanda's eyes widened when Sebastian turned to her. "In fact, Wanda! Marry me!" He held her hands. "So Fez doesn't get stupid ideas like this anymore."

Wanda's eyes went incredibly wide. Her mouth was gaping and she couldn't close it no matter how much she tried.

Some curious people turned to look at them.

Seb smiled innocently, but it was his turn to gasp when Wanda, as stunned as she was, reached for her purse and FINALLY took out the box. "I-I'd love to marry you…" She whispered and opened the box to reveal the precious ring inside.

Sebastian stared at the ring and he smiled tearfully. "That's the ring...that's the ring that- I loved that-that day…" Oh circles he was going to cry.

People around them cheered loudly and clapped and Wanda put the ring onto his finger. She was also teary eyed. Stan was long forgotten as she pulled the youngest triplet in for a kiss. Seb absently dropped his phone onto the table as he and Wanda stood up from their chairs to kiss closer.

When they finally pulled apart, the two had tears streaming down their cheeks. Seb glanced down at his ring and giggled excitedly. "Well, I gotta give it to you, Wands...Getting married sounds better than I thought and- oohh~" A waiter came carrying a bottle and served them more wine. "It's on the house!" the waiter grinned.

"And we get free things!" Seb took a sip of the wine. Yum~ He looked up from his drink and gasped, finally understanding what his brother was trying to say.

"Oh my Ax, Stan, he-he's getting married as well?! But with Carla! And-with us?! And-it's a double wedding?!" Doing this human ceremony sounded EVEN BETTER if he could do it with Stan as well! He got to do it with one of his brothers! One of the people he loved the most in this life!

"I'm getting married along with my brother!" He cheered and some tables around them cheered as well.

Wanda poured herself more wine and gulped down her drink as she sighed loudly. "Aahh~!" It worked! She did it! He loved the idea!

"Hello? Seb? Are you there?" Stan's confused voice sounded from the forgotten phone. Did he interrupt something important?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blue: Wanda did it! Woo! Finally girl! (Im so proud of her :3) And the twins have grown up soo muchhhh T-T
> 
> Please leave your reviews, we love hearing what you think!


	13. Chapter 12: Teens’ romantic adventures, misadventures and an awaited truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys we're back and hope you like it!

Dipper smiled when he checked his phone and got a notification.

Ah~ Pacifica~

He had texted about her new job and how she was doing. He understood what it was like having a job, he tutored younger kids in different subjects (Mabel also 'worked' but hers didn't last too long, she got bored of it pretty fast). Dipper smiled. He was really proud of her moving up from waitressing. Pacifica already made her own bank account so she could support herself without relying on her parents. From what he understood, after she 'rebelled' during that party where everyone turned into trees (it seemed so long ago), and her family became less rich after her dad went bankrupt (Dipper felt guilty for not feeling sorry at all. Who the fuck sided with Bill?!), her relationship with her parents became...tense. But she was doing fine, all things considered.

"MR. PINES HAND OVER THAT PHONE!"

"AAHHH!" Dipper screamed and dropped his phone. The person who screamed, his dear twin, started laughing loudly. "One day a teacher will find you with your phone and you'll REGRET not using this as practice!" Mabel blew a raspberry.

The younger teen grumbled, picked his phone back up and walked along with her. "Geez Mabel, it's not like I'll be on my phone during class." He wasn't like Mabel who was checking her social media constantly, chatting with people on all platforms and getting the status update on everyone's lives.

And this was their last week. No one would care!

"Whatever~" Mabel grinned at him. "So how've you and Pacifica been doing? Still being super cute~?"

Dipper felt his cheeks warm up and coughed. "Well. We're doing fine. She's doing fine."

"Eeeeehh!" The girl squealed. "I paired you up~ This is my work! And considering you used to hate her~~" She put her hands over her chest.

"I-I didn't hate her!" Dipper blushed. "I-I just-"

"Sure, you just called her fake blond and thought she was the worst!" Mabel teased. Her twin gumbled. "it's not like you liked her at first either...We were just kids…" Dipper pouted.

Mabel nodded. "True~ But I tried being nice! And be friends! Because that's who I am! A cute nice girl!" Dipper laughed and pulled her closer. Mabel thought it was a hug, but it turned out to be a noogie. "Aahhhh! Noooo!" She wailed. Dipper was slightly taller than her now and she didn't like that one bit!

"Heeeelppp!"

"Say who's the alpha twin! Say it!" Dipper roared.

"It-It's still ME!" Mabel freed herself by tickling Dipper's armpits (he was as ticklish as ever) and the boy squeaked before jumping away.

"Well~ I'm gonna look for Chad~We were going to eat together! I made donuts! With lots of sprinkles! He loves that! See ya in class, Dip Dot!" Mabel called out as she skipped away.

Dipper waved. Chad. He was Mabel's latest boyfriend. They've been together for a month. Dipper didn't really know the guy, but he had a feeling things wouldn't last. Like her previous boyfriends…

Mom and Dad said Mabel had a unique personality. According to his dad, he was glad his 'princess' didn't have serious relationships with anyone because Dad's were overprotective of their daughters. Dipper saw the way his dad and uncle Seb were protective of Mabel whenever she tried to date anyone and found it all very annoying.

(Dipper would never act like that if he had a daughter!)

On the other hand, their mom wanted to meet one boyfriend that lasted more than a few weeks. He had heard her tell Mabel that boys didn't understand her strong, bubbly personality, and those who didn't weren't worth it.

Dipper wasn't really sure if it was just that. It was weird. If boys 'did not understand it', girls shouldn't want to be friends either, and Mabel had lots of female friends. It was always boys who were...scared? Intimidated? Disgusted? Dipper had no idea.

What he knew was that whatever it was, it hurt his sister everytime one of her boyfriends broke up with her, and he didn't like to see her sad, it always broke his heart.

On her way to find her boyfriend, Mabel stumbled across him. "Chaad! I found yoou!" She squealed and leaned forward to kiss his lips. Chad tensed up. "Wanna have lunch now?! I made donuts!" Mabel swung out her personalized lunch box (that she made herself with hot glue and sequins!)

Chad sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Listen, Mabel...We, we have to talk, ok?" Mabel frowned a bit but agreed. They went to a more private space with less noise and people.

"What...do you have to tell me? Maybe-maybe if you don't want donuts, it's fine!" The brunette girl said quickly. The sinking feeling in her stomach was tormenting her.

"Um...Mabel, you're very...sweet ok? And...nice, but this-this isn't working…" Chad grimaced ashamed.

"O-Oh…" Mabel looked down and nodded slowly. "Ok, I-I get it…"

"We-We're ok, though, right?" Mabel wasn't a bad looking girl, and she was very sweet, he just...couldn't be with Mabel. He didn't know why. It felt weird being around her. Like, she was a little too much sometimes, and Chad could never tell if she was serious about him or if she just dated him because she wanted to date someone, the fact that she would go after a new guy after every break up left the impression on him and the other boys that Mabel wasn't really… serious about any of them? (And a few guys privately thought Mabel might be a slut.)

(Not that Chad or any of the other boys knew that Mabel was still a virgin, despite how much she actually wanted to get intimate with a guy, none of them had really gotten to know her enough to get to that point, always assuming incorrectly that Mabel didn't actually care about them. But that wasn't true, Mabel just wanted to express her love as much as she could.)

Mabel smiled a bit and nodded. "Yes, fine, totally fine, don't worry…" She waited until the teenager was gone before she left the secluded corner. Mabel hugged her multicolor backpack to herself as she made her way to the bathroom where she could finally shed the first tear.

"..N-Nobody likes me…" The heartbroken girl whispered to herself. None of the boys had ever seen her cry after a break up. Mabel didn't want to be the type of girl who would cry and make others feel bad, and maybe making them feel bad enough to take back the break up out of guilt. She didn't want to do that.

If they didn't want to be with her, then… she didn't want to guilt them into staying with her when they didn't want to. On Mabel's end, she was putting on a brave face, smiling through the pain and acting like she was fine because she didn't want to make others feel bad. But from the outside, it made people think that Mabel wasn't affected either way by the break up. Like she just didn't actually care. Because she never seemed to be sad from it. Mabel was good at hiding her pain.

Dipper was always sad about things, and Mabel had taken it upon herself to not add to his anxiety, stress and sadness by letting herself be sad. Well, she did get sad when she was younger, and had always gotten Dipper to help her with it. But she'd told herself not to be so self centered anymore, so she didn't want to bother Dipper with her relationship problems anymore.

So Mabel wiped her tears, washed her face and pasted on a smile before leaving the bathroom. Maybe she could find her friends and have lunch with them...

-.-

Despite the fact that she didn't want to bother her brother, Mabel had her confident who was always a very good listener. Dillon, like her, was a sad heart with not much luck with love, so they could talk about how they felt.

Dillon looked at his cousin's sad face and sighed. "Oh, Mabel, I'm sorry to hear that…"

"He-He...He said it wasn't working...What did I do?! Maybe I'm not being nice enough...or-or I'm too suffocating?"

"I'm sure you aren't. Maybe they're just dicks, you know? It isn't your fault." Dillon stared at Mabel seriously. "Mabel, you're a strong independent woman who don't need no man." The boy waved a finger.

"But I want one." Mabel said sadly. She had her family, and she loved them a lot, but Mabel wanted to be loved by a partner too. She wanted to feel the same way she saw her twin felt. To be happy and all lovey dovey with someone, do things together and cuddle…

Dillons eyes widened a bit when he saw Mabel was starting to tear up. "Hey...come on, boys aren't worth crying for, trust me." It was dumb, they didn't deserve your tears. Like his first boyfriend. He was an ass.

"Maybe he wasn't the right one for you. There's always someone special for you, just look at our uncle Seb and our Dads! Who would say those idiots would find someone? If they can, you'll DEFINITELY find the right person too. You're super nice and amazing!"

Mabel wiped her tears and smiled. "Thanks...Do you think I'm pretty too?"

"As a cousin, as a boy or as a gay?" Dillon teased and Mabel giggled. "As Dillon."

"I think you're very pretty but it's just a tiny fraction of all the other great qualities you have." He nodded solemnly. He thought of a fun way to cheer up his cousin and he came up with an idea. "Hey~ I found the funniest smut fanfic in the history of funny smut fanfics! It's soooo over the top and soo cringeeyyy!" Dillon laughed. "You know you wanna read it~"

Mabel laughed. "Oh my gosh yeeees~" the link Dillon sent her started with the line 'When he regarded me from across the bar with such a gaze of introspection, while sliding his cocktail cherry along his tongue, I knew he was going to be one hell of a fuck.' and Mabel started cackling.

"AAAHHHH!" She screamed with laughter. "DILLON!"

"Hahahahahaha! Continue reading~" The boy urged. "That's not even the best part yet!"

The two teens read aloud the cringey fanfic and laughed together. They joked about the silly synonyms used to describe the characters' bodies ('his mighty meat stick.') and complained about the bad story set up ('we fooled around in the bath until he slipped and fell to sit his ass right on my-'). This had become a tradition between them since Mabel learnt Dillon liked to read fanfics, especially smut. He just liked it, not in a dirty way or anything. (Or at least, that's what she thought…)

She absolutely LOVED having a gay cousin, it was so nice to have someone she trusted to talk about things she couldn't talk to with Dipper and was too embarrassed to tell her friends or mom. She could talk about boys with him, and he never judged her about it, and in return, she could listen to him. Mabel felt so proud of herself that Dillon trusted her as much as she trusted him. He told her about how he felt with his own sexuality, his crushes, and how scared he was of talking to his dad.

The two of them could talk about their own needs and desires, especially about their sexuality. It was very liberating for the two teens. They looked at pictures of cute boys together, they'd even touched on the subject of what they'd like to do with said cute boys. Part of Mabel felt a little embarrassed and shameful for her desires, but as a teenager who was very much sexually curious (and horny) she couldn't help it. Dillon also admitted to her that he'd get horny and have to masturbate, and that from what he's read on the matter, this was perfectly normal and healthy.

"It's better to masturbate and satisfy your body's needs, then to have it all cooped up inside until you go crazy and do something stupid." Dillon told her. Mabel knew he was right, but part of her was still a little embarrassed to start touching herself in such an intimate way, no matter how much she was craving it.

"It's just weird, you know?" Mabel sighed over the laptop to her cousin. "Like, I always liked boys, but now I REALLY like boys. And I stare at them as they flex, or bend over, or reach up and their shirts lift just enough for me to see some skin, and… ugh…" Mabel hid her face in her hands, blushing hard. "And I really, really want to fuck them." She groaned. "Am I a slut?"

"No, you're not. You're just a sexual person. There's nothing wrong with that." Dillon assured her. Mabel clutched the bear shaped pillow she was holding. "But that's what they call me. I can hear what they say about me, even if no one's saying that to my face." And the teachers were always telling them that they should wait until they were older before having sex. And, well, Mabel was 15, but she was horny! And part of her felt like she was a bad person for being so.

Which was stupid. Mabel knew that intellectually, but emotionally, she had her parents warning her and Dipper about sex and teen pregnancies all her life, for obvious reasons, and condoms weren't fool proof. So Mabel always felt somewhat guilty about her feelings of wanting to have sex.

Mabel shrieked and turned around when her door was thrown open.

"MAbEL!" Dipper screamed, clicking a pen as fast as he could. "I thought of something horrible and now it can't leave my brai-wha-what were you watching?" He stared at her open laptop and Mabel quickly clicked on Dillon's face to zoom him. "Nothing! Just talking with Dillon here! Right?!"

Dillon nodded. "Yeah! Talking about di-"

"WHAt did you want, bro?" Mabel gave a big grin as she tried to change the subject.

Dipper narrowed his eyes but let it go for now. "Remember Uncle Ford's infinity sided dice?"

"Umm~ The one that made your nerdy game come to life and we saved your asses and brains?"

Dipper deadpanned. "Yes, yes that one…"

"An infinity what?" Dillon asked, but was ignored. "Ok, what about it?" Mabel asked.

"Well, I was suddenly thinking about it and I remember Uncle Ford said it could make the world turn into an egg! And the implications are so scary and unpredictable! Like-like what would happen to us?! What if it got broken?! What if it hatched?! If the world was an egg, would we all suddenly be living in yolk? Would we become yolk?!" The brunet teen was scared out of his mind. Dillon and Mabel shared a look through the cam.

"Aaww, my poor bro bro~" Mabel patted his shoulder in a sincere sibling hug. "Do you wanna talk to ol' uncle Ford and ask if the crazy dice is safe?"

Dipper sniffled and nodded.

Mabel called Ford and put on free speaker mode, so Dillon could hear and be part of it too. It was on the second try that someone picked up the phone, but it wasn't their uncle's deep voice. "Hello? Dr. Pines' phone? He's holding dangerous material and can't talk right now. Who is this?" A boy's voice asked.

"Who are you?" Mabel frowned a bit and Dipper already looked worried. "Oh man! Oh man! Uncle Ford was kidnapped!"

"He survived in space. I'm sure he'll be fine." Dillon rolled his eyes. It'd be hard for him to believe someone was kidnapped after being lied to for 13 years. But, he wasn't too worried if it had really happened, he knew Ford could take it. And no, it had nothing to do with his grudge. He wasn't as angry anymore. Forgive and forget.

"My name is Tyler, I'm an intern at the National Institute-"

"Ok, ok the Mystery Shack research center, ok." Mabel giggled when she heard the boy make some confused sounds and mutter something. "I'm DOCTOR-hAH! Doctor Pines' niece~ Can you please give him the phone? My bro Dipper wants to know if the infinity dice is safe and won't turn the world into an egg accidentally."

There was silence on the other side of the line before Dillon interrupted it with a snort. Tyler finally spoke. "Eh...sure…" Tyler pulled back his mask and walked over to Stanford, who was explaining something to Viola (he already knew this subject, because he learnt it at school, of course), and showed him the phone. "Dr. Pines, your niblings are calling and they're asking about some dice and...and an egg...What should I do…?"

Ford grinned. "Oh, just put them on free speaker while I finish this." Tyler obeyed and put the phone closer to his boss. "Hello, Mabel, Dipper?"

Dipper sighed in relief. "Hey Uncle Ford! Hi! You got an intern huh?" He smiled, feeling much more relaxed now that he could hear the man's voice. Ford nodded, but Dipper didn't see him. "Well, two in fact."

"Hahahahaha! Dipper you got replaced~Woohh!" Mabel giggled on the back and high fived the screen of her laptop as if she was high fiving him.

"So tell me, Dipper, has something been bothering you recently, I think?" Ford asked and Dipper nodded. "Yes, um, I was overthinking and remembered the infinity sided dice-It's safe right? Like, you're keeping it in a safe place, right?!"

Ford nodded. "Yes, in my vault under key and lock, exactly where we left it after defeating Probabilitor."

"AFTER MABEL AND MY GREAT BROTHERS DEFEATED HIM WITH IMAGINATION!" Mabel corrected him. Ford sighed. "Yes, that."

Tyler and Viola shared a very confused look at the conversation the Pines were having. Their boss didn't study weirdness for years for nothing. Stanford himself was a little weird...

They briefly chatted for a while, Dillon even joined in the conversation before Ford told them he had to leave and finish his work. "Bye, kids."

"See ya Uncle Ford! Say hi to Grenda and Candy for me!" "And Paz!" Dipper added, earning a giggle from his twin.

Ford frowned. Did they just asked him...to say hi to their friends? Again? Why they didn't simply call their friends to say hello was a mystery Ford just couldn't solve. "Uh...Suuure...If I see them…" He said slowly. Having to track down his nibling's friends would surely take too much time. Well, perhaps he could pass on the greetings…

Ford hung up the phone and glanced over at Viola and Tyler. Well, Fiddleford did say that interns were there to do stuff for him…

"Once we finish storing these chemicals away, I have a mission for you two." Ford told them quite seriously. The two stood up straight. A mission from Dr. Pines? "What is it sir?" Tyler asked (eager to earn more points with the Doc and perhaps even getting hired for reals by the Center once his internship finished).

"I need you to track down my niblings' friends and pass on the 'Hello' to them."

….Viola and Tyler thought he was joking and were waiting for the punchline. But Ford just looked at them expectantly.

Finally, Viola asked "And… why us? We don't know your niblings' friends…"

Ford's mind raced to come up with an excuse besides 'I'm busy and don't want to leave the lab to go find them.' And blurted out "You two are still new in town, you don't know the area or the people yet. This would be a good opportunity for you to walk around, meet the townsfolk and get to know the area." Ford nodded to himself. "And any good scientist should know how to go out and find out information, such as tracking down people or some supernatural creature. This will be a test of your information gathering skills to find these people."

The interns nodded. Right. That made sense. Tyler side eyed Viola. If he found them first, that'd prove he was better at information gathering. Scratch that, it'll prove that he was better.

"What are their names?" Viola asked, and Tyler internally berated himself for not asking that first.

"Well there's Pacifica Northwest...Sweet, she was named, oh! Candy...Candy...something, Korean last name? ...Sounds like Achoo and Grenda Grendinator." Ford listed off. He only remembered Grenda's last name because it stuck out to him.

The interns stared. Was… was that last one a joke?

But no, it wasn't. Their boss was completely serious.

The two college kids stared even harder at Ford, (that was it?! He didn't even tell them the last name of one of them). Their boss groaned. "I don't really know those girls, ok? Now go research and find them!" Ford was also tired and wanted to work on his own, so getting rid of the interns while making them think they were important was a great idea.

It was noon, and after retrieving their phones, they stole a golf cart from the souvenir shop because they didn't feel like walking all the way to town. They were sure the nice guy (Zeus?) wouldn't mind.

"Huh, do you know one of Dr. Pines' triplets owns the store? That tourist trap? He started it years ago." Viola said, just to break the awkward silence. Tyler rolled his eyes, not looking up from his phone as he texted his friends. "The football player or the one without an eye?"

"Ummm, the one without an eye." Viola nodded. "I saw him in the news. He opened a store. I think he designs clothes."

"That's gay." Tyler commented. Viola remained silent because she really didn't want to argue with the dick right now. She sighed. "I...think we could ask around in town for them? It's a small town, people usually know each other."

"Listen, Viola." Tyler sighed as if Viola was dumb. "This mission is clearly a test to see who is the best. And I want to win, so I'd appreciate if you stand aside, yes? I'll say you tried your best~"

Viola deadpanned. "When we graduate, we will have to work with people, as a team, with annoying jerks like you, whether you like it or not."

"I don't work as a team." The boy grinned and Viola nodded. "Alright." Said the girl before stopping the golf cart. "Then get out. It was my idea to get a golf cart. And we're not a team."

Tyler's flabbergasted expression made the girl smiled. "FINE!" The boy stomped out, slammed the door and Viola waved sweetly before driving away.

Stupid Tyler. She hoped he got lost.

She calmly drove into town and wondered what to do next. The kids who called were still in school so their friends might be as well. She parked the golf cart and walked into a store. She could get information about these kids and buy something to eat. "Hello~" She smiled at the cashier. "How can I help you, dear?" The woman with poofy hair grinned back.

Viola put some cheetos on the counter. "I'm Viola Se, intern of the National Institute-"

"Oohh~ the scientific Mystery Shack, yes! Sebas's brother built it." The woman nodded. "But he doesn't live here anymore, not since-"

The customers in the convenience store ALL turned to look at her wide eyed (it REALLY creeped Viola out) and the seller coughed. "Since he moved out with his partner, never mind all that~" She waved a hand dismissively. The other customers resumed what they were doing.

"So, you know the Pines? Dr. Pines, Sebastian and his family? Even...Mabel and her brother?"

"Oh yes, we know the twins, they're such sweethearts~"

Viola smiled. "Maybe you can help me with something then! I'm looking for their friends, Pacifica Northwest, Grenda...Grendinator and Candy, but I don't really know her last name."

"Oh I know those girls." The woman scanned Viola's cheetos. "Candy and Grenda buy stuff here all the time, I used to go with her parents to the town therapy group to forget about...the earthquake-"

'The earthquake?' Viola thought to herself.

"-Pacifica's family founded the town, had a big manor before they went bankrupt after the earthquake, now not-crazy McGucket lives there and the Northwest have a house in town."

Not-crazy McGucket? But the doc was a mechanic genius! Sure, he had weird ideas, and ate frogs at one point in his life, but he wasn't really crazy! Right?

"Um...Do you happen to know where I can find them?" Viola asked politely.

"Umm~ Pacifica works in the library now, maybe you can find her there?" The woman said apologetically, she didn't know more, but it was enough for Viola. she thanked her and got out as she munched her cheetos. So there was an earthquake here that really scared the townsfolk, huh? She wondered why she never heard about it.

She rode in her golf cart and slowly made her way to the library. Viola wanted to see the town she would live in for the next few months. It was a nice town, quiet and kind of slow. Aside from that earthquake, she doubted anything interesting happened here.

That was literally the town's catchphrase.

As she had been talking with the woman, Tyler finally arrived to town, grumbling and gasping for air. Stupid Viola leaving him in the middle of the freaking woods! He had been scared, but his pride and arrogance forced him to get out of the cart. Now his sneakers were dirty and he was tired and just wanted to sleep.

Tyler was actually also kind of spooked. On his way here, he began hearing weird noises from behind him, but everytime he looked back, there was nothing. It gave him goosebumps but he tried to remain calm. All forests had weird sounds. Was probably just some animals. He ended up putting on earbuds to drown out the rattling noise, but the feeling that someone was following him never left until he made it out from the trees and into town.

Damn forests.

He looked around. Pacifica Northwest, he knew that name. His parents knew that name. He realized Viola didn't recognize it, peh, course she didn't. The Northwests were a very powerful, rich and influential family. At least until a few years back when Preston Northwest lost a lot of his money from some sort of bad business deal. Tyler didn't know the details but he remembered his own father talking about it.

Either way, even after that, their wealth was only brought down from billion to hundred millionaires. Tyler heard that they sold their mansion, but with the money they still had, and Preston's hard work and ruthless business practice, they were rebuilding their family fortune. So, by that deduction, they must be living in another house, one that was still grand and on the higher end side of town! He couldn't imagine living in a neighborhood nearby these plebeians.

With that in mind and after asking some pedestrians which was the best part of the town, he made his way there. He looked around, but Tyler couldn't find a house he could qualify as 'Northwest'. All of them looked the same!

He was forced to stop and ask for help, explaining he was an intern at the National Institute- and then cut off with "Ohh the Mystery Shack!" From the townsfolk he was asking. Tyler was very confused with this. They remembered a fake tourist trap created by Dr. Pines' least well-known brother more than the incredibly amazing scientific center made by Dr. Pines?! Didn't they know the town was finally being mentioned and being put on the map thanks to Stanford and the other scientists? What did the tourist attraction and the other Pines do to be so appreciated here?

Even Dr. Pines' niblings were well known, and they were kids. Everything he heard about them was about them being 'heroes and the scary 'earthquake'. This town was so weird. If the internship wasn't worth it, he wouldn't have chosen it in a million years. Damn small town folk with their limited brains and limited-

He was brought back to reality when he realized he was lost. Damn it! And to make things worse, he was near a cemetery! Great! Everything was so freaking fantastic! He was creeped out as it was!

"Why hello dearie!" An incredibly chipper voice made Tyler jump. He turned to see a middle aged woman with a friendly smile and a shovel slung over her shoulder. "Haven't seen you around before. I think you're a little lost, dear." She was very pleasant and it grated on Tyler's every nerve. "If you're looking for the town, it's down that way." She gestured to a path. "It ain't safe to wander around the graveyard for a walk, not since the earthquake." Despite her words, the woman sounded positively delighted.

Tyler was… very uncomfortable with the woman's cheerful tone. And why did she have a shovel, in a graveyard? Was she burying someone? He nodded slowly and took a step back, away from the lady and (hopefully) back towards town. "Ah, I was looking for someone actually…" Tyler said as casually as he could. The woman giggled. "Oh. I hope they aren't dead already, that would be a shame~"

Tyler paled and he didn't recover his normal tone even when she smiled. The woman smiled even wider (how that was possible, Tyler didn't know) "What's their name? I know where everyone is." She gestured to the graves around her. Tyler shook his head. "No, not a dead person. I'm looking for friends of Dr. Pines' niblings." He held back a stammer.

The woman blinked. "Those sweeties? They have lots of friends! Why, little Mabel got my darling baby Robbie together with his girlfriend you know? Such a lovely couple they are. It's a shame they're studying far from each other~"

"Well I'm looking for Pacifica, Candy and Grenda." Tyler interrupted before the lady could go off on a tangent about her son. The woman laughed. "Oh, the Grendinators are such lovely people~ We buried the grandpa last year~ it was a nice funeral." Tyler twitched at that. The woman didn't seem to notice his unease at her casual mention of the funeral. "Well, at this time I think miss Grenda is having wrestling practice over at the high school."

"...Right… well, I'll just… Be going back to town now...Yeah..." Tyler backed up another step, visibly shaking.

She watched him the whole time, bright smile on her face as she stood in place, watching him.

As soon as Tyler was far enough away, sort of walking sideways to keep the woman in sight, he turned and booked it back down the path, praying it led to town. That shit was creepy! Unbidden, all those horror movies about small towns and their weird townsfolk came to mind and Tyler shook his head. Couldn't be. There's no way the great Dr. Pines would build his lab in some creepy town with a demonic cult or something. That's ridiculous!

With the adrenaline moving him, he didn't realize he was back in town until he heard the cars. Tyler sighed in utter relief. He didn't want to come across that woman ever again! Tyler was slightly gasping for air, from tiredness and from the scare he just had. He bought a bottle of water from a nearby shop, asked for directions and made his way to the school.

All of this to prove he was better than Viola! He bet she hadn't found anything yet! "Hah, suckupsmore…" He smiled to himself.

Tyler wondered if he needed a pass to enter the school, but then remembered this was a public school so who cared.

He entered the school as if he owned the place. He stuck out a little because of his age but no one really made a fuss or stopped him since he was still young looking. Like an older looking senior student. Wow, security really didn't care if any stranger just waltzed right in, especially if they looked like a kid.

Oof. That wouldn't happen in his old high school… they had actual security. It had been a private school that had a budget set aside for metal detectors and campus police to patrol the grounds. Tyler shrugged, whatever, this didn't concern him.

Finally, he found the girl he was looking for (after a bit of asking around). She was a tall muscular girl making a dance of victory over the girl she defeated. "YEAH! ANOTHER WIN FOR THE GRENDSTER!"

Tyler sighed. "Grenda Grendinator?"

She turned to look down at him (holy shit this gal was huge. Tall and hulked out with muscle) before frowning. "SORRY, YOU'RE CUTE BUT THIS GIRL'S TAKEN!" She told him, looking a little annoyed. "I KEEP TELLING YOU BOYS I HAVE A BOYFRIEND." Another girl patted her arm. "It's because you're the hottest girl at the school, they all want to at least try."

Tyler's eye twitched. "What? No! One, I didn't come for that, and two, you are a minor. I'm almost 22!"

The girls with Grenda all 'eeww'ed'. "You perv!"

Tyler pulled his hair angrily. "The Pines twins say Hi. I was asked to pass on the message." He was having a headache. Urghh.

Grenda gasped and she cooed. "AAAWW! THANK YOU!" She should write to Mabel.

"Do you happen to know where Pacifica Northwest is?" Tyler asked. He doubted it though, he doubted Pacifica studied here.

"SURE! SHE'S AT HER JOB AT THE LIBRARY!"

"If you go there, be careful with crazy Gabe though, he's kinda very weird~" A girl warned. That boy was a year older than them and ever since the 'earthquake' he became more weird than normal. Grenda sighed when she remembered the sock opera.

"Aaaallright...thanks…" Tyler gave them a thumbs up and walked out. One girl. Two to go. He bet Viola hadn't done shit yet!

Viola could have in fact finished the job a while ago, she had the cart and was 1 girl ahead, but...she got distracted. The earthquake thing caught her attention and as she made her way to the library, visited some spots to socialize and get more information about it.

She searched on her phone about it, but literally the only news featuring the town was when Dr. Pines and his brother reappeared and the center' inauguration.

Weird~

When she was sitting on a bench, eating ice cream, she saw someone had carved some sort of triangle on the floor, but it was so scratched up (she could tell the person was eager to erase it), it was barely recognizable.

A couple of cops saw her sitting there and said hi. Viola was just naturally polite and attracted plenty of pleasant greetings from the locals. She told them she was new in town, working at the N-Mystery Shack research center, and once again, Viola was told very positive things about the triplets and their niblings.

"They were here when the earthquake happened, right? I guess the Pines were very brave?" What could two kids do to be called heroes by the entire town?

The deputy held the sheriff's hand tighter. "It was very shocking for us but...never mind all that."

And why did everyone use that phrase?!

At the end, defeated, Viola just went to the library to find Pacifica. She entered the building and a teenage boy around 16 or 17 with long blond hair and blue eyes was sitting on a table. He was holding some puppets and at first Viola thought he was playing with some kids, but as she walked past him, she saw him alone, talking TO the puppets.

"I can't do it guys, we're going to fail that exam…" The boy cried. "Oh don't worry Gabe~ You're doing just fine!" The book puppet, himself, kissed his cheek. "Yeah, we're here for you!" The bee puppet waved its little hands. "Oh, guys, I love you so much, what-what would I do without you~"

Viola regretted spying because she shuddered when he started kissing his puppets. She ran the heck out of there. Browsing around the shelves, she found a blonde girl reshelving books from a cart. Well, Viola heard that Pacifica worked here so hopefully this was her. "Hello? Are you Pacifica?" Viola asked. The blonde girl looked over and nodded. "Yes, that's me. Did you need something?"

Viola smiled relieved. "Oh well, not really, I was just sent by Dr. Pines to tell you his niblings say hi, um, Mabel and…Dopper?"

"Dipper, he's my boyfriend." The blonde girl smiled and Viola squealed. Cuuuteeeee! "Thanks for coming all the way here to tell me. What's your name?"

"Viola, it's nice to meet you, I've been searching for you all day~" Pacifica laughed softly. "Right, sorry about that. I bet Ford took everything literally again." Cute man, but dumb, a lot like Dipper actually. If she didn't know Shermie, she would think Ford was his dad.

"What do you mean?"

"The twins, scratch that, normal people just say that, ' say hi to', even when you know it isn't going to happen, you know? I saw him in town last month, he was searching for me because 'the twins said hi'." Paz rolled her eyes.

Viola blinked before groaning and facepalming.

The two talked for a little bit, shared phone numbers (in case there were more 'hi's to be given) and Viola left after Pacifica told her that her shift was done and that she knew Grenda was at school practicing wrestling at this time.

Viola wanted to finish her mission, despite Paz saying Ford did this all the time. No more distractions this time! She walked out and as she drove to the school, she spotted Tyler. She stopped and looked at him. "Hey~ Thought you would return to the center before your very expensive shoes get covered in dirt~" She teased.

Tyler laughed. "Say all you want, backup intern, I already found a kid and I bet you haven't talked to anyone yet!"

"In fact, jerk, I know where 2nd kid is!"

"Me too! I'm going to talk to Pacifica!"

"I already did!" Viola smiled a bit smug. Sucker. "I'm going to Grenda now!"

"I went there, suckupmore!" Tyler spat but both interns sighed, upset and sat down to sulk. They still needed to find Candy, none of them asked the other girls about her and they must be gone by now. No one was going to win this competition. After a bit of arguing, they decided to ask around town, and if they couldn't, they would just go back home. Viola allowed Tyler to ride in the golf cart with her, she took pity on him.

They drove around quietly for a while before Viola spoke up, "Have you noticed how weird this town is? And the people? Like… it's almost like they're all…"

"In on some secret that they don't want outsiders to know about?" Tyler wasn't looking at her, his gaze out at the town around them as they drove. "Yeah. It was pretty damn obvious. But this is a small town, they're all like this, right? Some deep dark secret that the locals keep to themselves?" He shrugged. "As long as there isn't some sacrificial cult dedicated to some demon, like in that Quiet Valley game, we should be good-" he cut off as Viola hit the breaks on the golf cart. "Oof! What the hell, Viola?!"

But she wasn't looking at him, she was staring forward with a horrified expression. Tyler turned to look at where Viola was staring and he stiffened as well.

Some kind of… creature was there, in the middle of the road, walking by and no one in town seemed to care. As the two stared, a passerby waved at the horrifying monstrocity with a friendly "Good afternoon, Toby." and the thing responded with "I keep telling you, I'm Bodacious T!" the creature said before glancing over and noticing Viola and Tyler. "Oh hey, that's the Mystery Shack golf cart. Are you new employees?" and then the thing took a step towards them, raising a camera that Tyler hadn't noticed was hanging around its neck.

Tyler reached over to shake Viola. "Drive! Drive!" he urged and that made the girl snap out of her transfixed terror enough to put the cart in reverse and slam on the gas, zooming back and away from that thing. "Ahhhh!" the two screamed as Viola swerved the cart and switched gears to put it back in forward drive and they made a hasty retreat.

"What WAS that thing?!" Viola sobbed as they finally lost sight of it.

"M-maybe it was some escaped experiment from the lab?!" Tyler tried to rationalize. "A-and it… maybe it was docile enough that they allowed it to live…"

The two passed by the sheriff again and told him about the ugly creature they'd just seen. Sheriff Blubs just laughed. "Ah you city kids and your wild imaginations." he laughed and sent them off with a "Drive safely now."

The two interns were so scared and overall stressed after their meeting with that horrible cryptid that Viola drove them to the diner to have something to drink. "City kids…" Tyler slurped his beer angrily. "That sounds like an insult when it shouldn't be...Dumb town…"

Viola rolled her eyes and sipped her tea. "I don't think the town is that bad. It's actually pretty nice...Despite being kinda weird." Tyler rolled his eyes. "You probably don't know anything better, to be honest."

"I seriously don't know why I keep talking to you, you're a disgusting person." Viola spat, angry at the boy, who smirked as he was wholly unaffected by the insult. "Well, it's because you, deep inside you, admire me, and want to stick with me because I'm better than you. Besides, we can't help but talk to each other, we are stuck together for the entire summer and we're the only other person our age we can socialize with, even if we hate each other."

"That makes sense…" Viola muttered. "The fact that you're nothing more than my bare minimum needed level of social interactivity, not that I admire you. In fact, I hold nothing but contempt for you."

Suddenly, a group of teens entered the diner, cheering and being loud. They were 3 red headed teens whose ages ranged between 14 and 18. The group started chanting "FOOD! FOOD! FOOD!" Tyler groaned. "Great. More kids."

The interns of the research center watched the group of gingers as they sat behind them and banged their fists on the table, excited to get food. The lady who served the interns chuckled fondly and went over to receive the teens. "Hey Marcus, Kevin, Gus! The same as always~?"

"Yeah!" The middle one exclaimed as he grabbed his youngest brother by the neck to give him a noogie. "NOO! Let go!" The youngest teen, Gus, growled. "We come from helping dad at work!" Marcus told Susan as he blew his hair up a little bit, but to no avail as the red locks fell down to cover his face again. "He'll come later."

"Ok, kiddos~ Be right back." Susan waved and left to put in their order. Tyler's eye twitched as the teens kicked their table and laughed loudly. "Maaan~ we have more work now that Wendy left!" Kevin complained. "Yeah, but she said she would come back, THEN we leave her with all the work!" Gus laughed maniacally.

"Dude, chill." Viola frowned as Tyler seemed about to explode. "Tyler!" She glared as he stood up, looked behind them and glared at the kids. "Can you keep it down?!"

The youngest kid growled menacingly and stood up, Gus and Kevin had grown a lot during these past few years, Marcus was almost as tall as their dad by now. So, for their ages, they were fairly tall (and muscled). Marcus narrowed his eyes as Gus knelt on the seat to look at Tyler. "And who are YOU to tell my brothers and I what to do?!"

Viola facepalmed. Those kids were going to break Tyler's face...She smiled a little bit. That would be fun to watch. Tyler went on a dumb explanation about how they were disturbing his peace and how he was paying to eat here and wanted a quiet experience and bla bla bla his parents would sue if they tried anything on him bla bla bla, but Kevin simply grinned. "We don't care about your money, city boy! This is our town, get it?! And you're just being rude and usin' words we don't understand!"

Gus punched his palm. "And you know what?! We punch what we don't understand!"

"Are you going to hit him? Can you wait so I can record this?" Viola turned around as well to look at the red haired teens. Marcus deadpanned (you could feel it despite his eyes being covered) and looked at Tyler. "Dude, don't embarrass yourself in front of your girlfriend. You're going to regret it."

Tyler's eyes widened as Viola shrieked, her smile wiped off her face immediately. "I'm not his girlfriend EW!" Viola gagged. Tyler glared at the teens. "How dare you insult me like that?! You're going to pay for that!"

Gus laughed loudly and stood up to walk over to Tyler. "Oh yeah?! Do ya wanna fight?! Do you know we work with axes all day?! Do you want my fist in your face?!" He waved his fist in front of Tyler's face, but Marcus pulled him back. He didn't want his brother to get in trouble, he and Kevin tended to get a bit too aggressive, but this city boy was getting annoying. So he smirked. "So, you started a fight with me and my brothers and then want us to pay?! How about we bet something? If you defeat my youngest brother in arm wrestling, he's just 14-" Gus growled again. "-we will apologize for bothering you and your girlfriend-" "I'M NOT HIS GIRLFRIEND!" "-But if we win, you pay for everything we order."

"Deal!" Tyler agreed, because testosterone and he couldn't back down from a challenge. It was like his fencing classes. Once you were slapped, you had to accept it. Besides, he was just 14 years old. How bad could it be?

Viola prepared her phone to record.

-.

"So, I think you sprained your arm. I can show you the video where the kid beat your ass so you can see for yourself?" Viola suggested innocently as the Corduroy brothers laughed loudly and walked out of the restaurant, carrying the entire crate of sodas they ordered from the diner and Tyler was forced to pay for. Along with their huge meal.

Tyler was holding a bag of ice on his elbow and holding back whimpers. Viola sat next to him with a big smirk. "That's what happen to people who are asses~"

"Just shut up, idiot. Let's just go to the center already." He spat angrily. Viola laughed, his pain was enough happiness for her, and she started the golf cart to go back to the center. However, when they were halfway there, their golf cart started malfunctioning and eventually stopped altogether. Now, the two interns were alone in the middle of the creepy forest with creepy noises. "Dammit!" Viola cursed.

Tyler, despite his sore arm, managed to laugh and say "NOW you'll have to explain Dr. Pines and Soos why the golf cart is missing...After all, it was your idea~" Viola ran a hand across her face and concluded the best next thing they could do was walk back to the center, explain what happened, and they'd pick up the cart.

However, the woods were completely unfamiliar to the both of them, they hadn't really spent much time out here and barely knew their way back to the center. Tyler reaching the town was pure dumb luck.

Soon enough, the interns were lost, and the sky was quickly darkening.

Viola didn't want to admit she was a little worried now. Her phone's GPS didn't seem to work. It just kept spinning and saying "Recalculating." when she tried to find the Center. She bit her lip and tried calling Dr. Pines, since by this point, they were well and truly lost, even as Tyler kept insisting it was "This way!"

The phone rang and rang and finally picked up to Dr. Pines' deep voice saying "Hello?"

"Ah… Dr. Pines, hi, it's me Viola. Um… the golf cart broke down in the middle of the woods and now we're kinda… lost."

"Oh no. Hang on, just stay where you are while I get a search party to find you." Dr. Pines told her and Viola slumped in relief. "Thank you, sir."

"Did you seriously call Dr. Pines for help?!" Tyler's eyes were wide in shock. Viola put her phone away and narrowed her eyes. "Of course I did! Do you want to stay here forever!?" Tyler ran a hand through his hair and laughed humorlessly. "We could have gotten out on our own, you useless DUMB girl! What you JUST did is make us look stupid and incapable of solving our own problems in front of our damn boss!"

Viola stepped back a little, startled at the reaction Tyler had, and she swallowed the lump in her throat. "I...Don't talk to me like that." She managed to whisper. Tyler deadpanned. "I can talk however the hell I want! Because this is a free country! And we have free speech! And I say you're just useless and stupid! And you'll never be anything more than some stupid, useless waste of space!"

"Free speech doesn't give you the right to be a piece of shit!" Viola sniffled, glaring at him and holding back tears as she walked closer to him. "You were just randomly pointing directions thinking you know soooo much! Do you think I give a single damn if you were in the scouts or whatever?! Knowing you, you probably bought all your badges! You're a horrible person and no one will ever like you! I'm going to stay here and wait, you can leave if you want and get lost somewhere for all I care!" Viola sat on a fallen tree trunk.

"Kill yourself, bitch!"

"Eat shit and die, asshole!"

The two interns flipped each other off and Tyler stomped away, furious. But his dramatic walk was totally ruined when he tripped over a branch, fell over his already injured arm and screamed. "Ahhh!" Tyler whimpered in pain.

"You're so stupid…" Viola rubbed her teary eyes (she defended herself pretty well, but his words still hurt) and turned around, giving him her back. He could stand up by himself. She wasn't going to help him. She heard Tyler moaning and groaning like a baby, but she didn't move. Tyler looked up at Viola, waiting to be helped, but when the girl didn't move, he frowned, so confused. Why wasn't she helping him?! He couldn't even see where he was and what had made him trip. He reached for his phone in his pocket to turn on the flashlight; there was a huge tree root, that made him trip. Tyler pointed with the flashlight at his surroundings until it landed on...

Tyler screamed and backed away from the eye looking down at him.

Viola HAD to turn around this time. Not because she cared what happened to him, but because she was curious, and wanted to see what made him scream. Tyler was a meter away, illuminating what looked like a...statue, a triangular statue. Tyler apparently was only startled, because he used the same statue to stand up in pain and was now examining it. "What is this? It's so cool~"

Viola decided to approach the statue too. It was in fact a triangle, a triangle wearing a cute hat and stretching his hand out, as if waiting to shake hands. "Why is this here? It doesn't look really old, but it's covered in moss and vines…" She ran her hand over the eye and shivered. Ugh. The stone was freezing! How was it even possible for it to be so cold?

Tyler poked the statue. "I doubt someone in town made it. It's a triangle, and the townspeople seem to have something against them." He told Viola, as if minutes ago he hadn't insulted her. Viola wondered if he was stupid, had memory problems, or he was simply an ass who didn't care about people's feelings and just assumed she'd be okay with talking to him after he'd outright insulted her. "Well it's a pretty good marker for our location." Viola admitted, taking a photo of the statue and texting it to Dr. Pines, so that maybe he'd be able to know where they were.

While Viola was on her phone, Tyler was taking selfies with the statue while laughing at this weird thing they found. His friends loved it.

"Well, I don't care how or why it's here, but I'm taking this to the center. If it's a weird object, I could show it to Dr. Pines and he'd know what it is~And then I'm taking it home!" Viola shrugged, still pissed. "Whatever man." She went to sit back on her tree trunk. Tyler was about to snap at her for being so mean (he was just talking!), when the two interns heard movement coming from the bushes.

"Hello?" She called as Tyler tried to pull the statue out by the extended arm, but even using both arms (which hurt a lot), he couldn't move it an inch. Why wasn't it moving?! It wasn't that big!

More bushes moving. Then growls. "Um...Mr. Pines? Is-Is that you?" Viola asked fearfully.

Before any of the interns could actually react, around 20 little creatures with beards and red hats came out of the bushes, growling loudly at them with their pointy teeth bared. "Why are you trying to move that?!" One of them screamed at Tyler.

Tyler jumped away from the statue as if it had burnt him and backed away, closer to Viola, shouting, "Holy shit!"

"Are-Are those gnomes…?" Viola's eyes were huge with fear. She had read about them, she read Dr. Pines' thesis about strange and supernatural creatures. She thought they were super rare though. They didn't look very happy with them. "Get away from that, you-you crazy humans!" More and more gnomes started surrounding them, and Viola and Tyler found themselves trapped.

"I bet they were trying to bring him back!" "They're his minions!" "We have to stop them!"

"We-We-will leave your statue! P-please!" Tyler said in a shaky voice, raising his hands as if trying to placate their anger. "I haven't done anything!" Viola pleaded and whimpered. "It was him! Please, please don't hurt me!"

"We don't believe you! You're probably brainwashed by that damn demon anyway!" "We'll stop you before you bring chaos again!" "LET'S GET THEM GUYS!"

Tyler and Viola screamed loudly as the little men lunged towards them. They were so many that the two fell to the ground and even as they struggled with all their might, they couldn't free themselves. "HELP!" "HELP USSS!" They screamed desperately as they were dragged deeper into the woods. Viola's phone was dropped in the struggle.

Viola's phone buzzed nonstop with messages from their boss.

-.-

Minutes before, Fiddleford was massaging his temples as Ford seemed incapable of realizing what was the problem. "How could you send the interns into town on their own! They haven't been here long enough to know about the woods!"

"They took a golf cart from the Shack." Ford waved a hand. "Sure, it stopped working and now they're in the woods, but I already sent some of the security team to go find them-"

"They're WHAT?!" Fiddeford pulled his blond hair. "Stanford, any creature could attack them there!"

"The creatures near the road are more docile, the dangerous ones are deeper into the woods. Besides, they're kinda more friendly to people now after Weirdmageddon." Ford rolled his eyes. "They'll be fine, they aren't kids." If his niblings at 12 could wander these woods and come out fine, why wouldn't two 20 something year old kids? His phone buzzed with a message, it was from Viola, she was probably going to tell him they were already found and returning.

He didn't expect the picture he received. 'So, we are here, Dr. Pines, if this helps? Near the triangle statue.' Ford screamed and Fiddleford took the phone to see as well. Then he screamed as well.

"DON'T TOUCH IT! VIOLA! VIOLA GET AWAY FROM THAT!" Ford texted furiously, and tried calling the girl, but to no avail. She wasn't picking up. Shit. Ford threw his lab coat and rushed for the door. If it was like this, then he would have to go and find the interns himself. He only hoped he wasn't too late.

"I can't believe they tied us together." Viola grumbled as she and Tyler sat together on the mossy ground. The gnomes had thrown them into this holding cell made of tree roots as they went to debate on what to do with them.

"Let us go! You-you little bearded fuckers!"

"Shhhh! We're trying to think here!" The brown bearded gnome hit the cage with a long stick and the humans whimpered.

"Please, please let us go, were sorry for messing with your statue, please, please!" Viola sobbed.

"We don't believe your lies you demon followers! Everyone knows not to touch it!" The gnome poked them with the stick from between the roots. "So if you're even anywhere near it, you must have come because of his orders!"

"No! We just got lost!" Viola protested. The gnomes didn't listen to her as they muttered amongst themselves. "We'll need to ask the elder." one declared. Another gnome groaned. "But he died like, last year."

"Oh right." The gnomes all sighed. "If only we had a Queen…" They sighed again, sounding more sad this time.

"Oh Mabel! Whyyy?! Why did you leave us!" The gnome sobbed dramatically and hit the floor with his tiny fists. Viola's eyes widened. Mabel? Could they be talking about Dr. Pines' niece?

Viola looked at Tyler. "Ma-Mabel? We-we know Mabel! Right?!" She nudged Tyler who nodded eagerly. "YEAH! Yeah! We even know her friends!" " Mabel-Mabel is Dr. Pines niece and she's good...right? Right?" Viola laughed nervously.

"Yeah we aren't evil!" Tyler agreed. Viola could disagree with that statement, because Tyler was a dick, but decided to keep quiet about that for the moment. The gnomes all frowned. "Hm… we will need to have a meeting with the rest of the gnomes, put this to a vote." One gnome decided. The others all nodded and they filed out of the dungeon for now.

"Great. Now they all left." Viola sighed. Tyler scoffed. "I've got a knife in my back pocket. I just can't reach it."

"You have a knife?!" Viola gasped. "It's a pocket knife! For my pocket!" Tyler protested. "For self defense! Like right now!" He wiggled a bit, but he still couldn't reach it. Viola frowned in thought. As she was tied up next to him, her hands behind her back…She started turning around to try to reach Tyler's pocket. "Hey! What're you doing?!" Tyler yelped as he felt her brush her fingers along his butt.

"I can grab the knife-" "P-Pocket knife!" "THAT SHIT, and free us!" She said in a hissed whisper. Tyler hissed back, "You're touching my butt! That's sexual harassment right there!"

"I'm trying to get the knife! I don't give two shits about your damn ass!"

"My damn fine ass, you mean!" Tyler couldn't help but pout.

"Every part of you is an ass!" Viola growled.

The two struggled against each other for a bit before Viola finally slid the pocket knife out of Tyler's pocket and the two stopped moving so she didn't cut them both as she carefully flicked the knife open and started cutting against their binding. Tyler couldn't help but whimper. "You're cutting us both free, right? You're not just going to leave me here, right?"

"Keep talking and I might be tempted to…" Viola huffed as she sliced through the vine ropes.

Meanwhile, armed with a gun, Ford ran and jumped expertly through the woods. Fiddleford had followed him (something quite stupid, now that the engineer thought about it), with much less experience but willing to help. Ford was muttering that something in the forest must have attacked them, otherwise, why else would Viola not answer his calls? (He tried very hard not to think about how perhaps the reason she wasn't picking up was because she or Tyler had messed with the statue and caused something even worse to happen-)

"You're really gonna kill whatever might have gotten them?" Fiddleford huffed as he tried to keep up with his much more athletic friend.

"Not if we can reason with whatever it is, like the good rational beings we are." Ford stopped but continued running after doing a quick look around and changing directions. "Unless it's a gremloblin. I'll shoot that thing in the face if I see it! I just can't believe they were close to-to that!" He growled. "And that boy was touching it!" Now he'd have to check if they weren't affected by Bill somehow!

Frankly, Ford wanted to destroy the statue, like Seb had told him before he almost died, but no matter what he did, it wouldn't break. And then he tried to hide it in his lab, lock it up so no one had to see it. But that didn't work either, he'd ended up waking at night and sitting in front of the damn thing through the night, paranoid and afraid Bill would reanimate when no one was looking. It got to the point where Ford was forced to take it out into the woods, deeper than anyone would normally go, and bury him there with some binding runes so that he couldn't be moved by anyone who might try to take him.

But that too, was a mistake. Ford knew that now. He should have buried Bill's statue FULLY. Made it so that no one would even be able to see him-

Ford shook his head. No, he would berate himself later. He had to find those interns now!

"Viola?! Tyler!" He shouted. Fiddleford joined in and screamed. "Violaaa! Tyler!"

They reached the place where the statue was. Fiddleford watched Ford approach it with an angry look. Sitting there looking so smug! Ford let out a growl. Fiddleford turned on a flashlight and Ford jumped out of his skin, but relaxed when he realized it was just light. The two scientists carefully examined the place. The last place where the interns had been.

Fiddleford didn't notice anything really out of the ordinary (despite the fact that the place was really cold and creepy), but Ford had, he had to survive in space for years, and despite how they both needed glasses, Ford and Stan had developed very sharp senses to be aware of their surroundings.

Ford crouched to look at the ground and carefully ran his fingers over the marks on the floor. Big footsteps...and very little ones. The strong smell of squirrels. Then a long trail someone failed to completely erase.

"Gnomes…" Ford whispered dramatically. He also found Viola's phone. She'd probably dropped it when she was attacked. There was a good chance that Tyler was with her. And there would be no cell service where the gnomes took them, cell service was always hit or miss around Gravity Falls to begin with.

"Gnomes…" Fiddleford repeated. "Those-those helped us with the Shacktron, it should be easy enough to talk to them, I think?" He crouched to look at the markings Ford noticed. "Why would they take the kids?"

Ford nodded. "Well, they'll listen to me, but they really dislike outsiders. And if the kids were messing with Bill's statue, they might have assumed the worst of them. We must hurry." He motioned for his friend to follow him. "The gnomes have an underground place, it's where they sleep-" He missed Fiddleford's surprised face. He really thought the gnomes just slept in the open air! "-so we should just find it and negotiate with them. I'm sure the interns are intelligent enough to keep themselves alive until we get to them."

Ford and Fiddleford reached an open field with two ways forward. Ford frowned and concentrated. "Now...I only need to remember which way it was… I'm 84% sure it's this way." Ford pointed to the left. The engineer sighed. Even after all these years, Fiddleford never really went that far into the woods, subconsciously terrified of it after all he'd been through. He didn't know much about where the local cryptids lived.

They were in luck because Ford was correct in his assumption and came upon a cave entrance surrounded by tree roots and mushrooms. There was a commotion happening inside, lots of screaming and growling. Ford didn't even see any guards. Well, one of the voices he heard seemed to be Viola (whose voice stood out more clearly among the gnomes deeper tones) so the scientist ran inside.

Unfortunately for the two interns, when the gnomes came back from debating, and decided they'd just eat them, one gnome saw what Viola was doing and all hell broke loose.

Even if the two were untied, they were still trapped down here, but since their arms and legs were free, they were able to fight back somewhat. Tyler managed to open the lock of the cage and the two quickly ran away, not daring to look back at the massive amount of angry gnomes growling at them. "GET THEM! DON'T LET THE DEMON'S FOLLOWERS ESCAPE!"

"This town! Even the monsters! Have a demonic cult problem!" Tyler screeched. Someone in here adored some sort of demon and this was the entire reason they were attacked and were about to be eaten by a bunch of CRAZY GNOMES! "I don't want to die!" The boy sobbed.

"Oh, Jesus! I don't want to die with you!" Viola screamed. "Help!" She screamed as tears blocked her vision. They ran through different tunnels without really knowing where to go. They thought this was the end. They were going to die with the person they hated the most in an underground basement eaten by gnomes because they had to say hi to some kids in a weird as fuck town!

"EVERYONE STOP!" A familiar voice thundered out through the tunnels. The gnomes and interns both stopped in place. Viola's heart skipped a beat. It was Dr. Pines! He came to rescue them! The gnomes gasped as Stanford Pines strode in with a frown. "Release the kids, they're my interns."

"They-" The gnomes blinked. Interns? What was an intern? The looked at each other, a silent conversation flitting by super fast amongst them. Intern? A human thing? He said they were his, so they belonged to him. Perhaps it meant a minion. Oh. That's it. So these humans were Pines' minions. And perhaps he'd ordered them to move the statue? But clearly they couldn't. Well, that was fine then.

"Alright then." One of the gnomes nodded when they all realized that these humans were Pines' minions (servants? Slaves? Maybe.) so they had to return them. "Take them back, and don't let them near our sections of the woods anymore. They're troublesome!"

Ford blinked, surprised at how easy this was. "O-okay. Yes. Come along you two, let's get back to the lab."

The interns were shaken out of their shock by the gnomes showing them their pointy teeth, and the two quickly scrambled towards their boss. He seriously saved them! Against angry gnomes! Just talking! Has he always been this amazing~?!

Outside the cave, Fiddleford was waiting with Fords gun. He was scared of getting in, but thinking about it, staying outside was even more dangerous.

Viola sobbed and hugged Stanford once they were out. Her clothes were dirty and torn, and she had a small bleeding cut on her cheek from where the gnomes knocked her to the floor. She was so scared. "Oh my god! Thank you!" Ford was frozen and the best thing he could do was pat her disheveled hair. "Its ok, they won't hurt you anymore…" Fiddleford looked at Tyler. "Are you ok?" He noticed he was holding his arm.

Tyler nodded slowly but changed his mind when the two scientists turned to focus on Viola. "I-I mean, I'm as fine as someone with a sprained arm can-can be, I-I hurt my arm and it really hurts! Ow!" He groaned, not quite acting, his arm had gotten worse.

Fiddleford helped hold his arm still as Ford still held a shivering Viola. They made their way back to the lab and Ford was so angry at them for touching the statue. However, Fiddleford reminded him they didn't know about it, so Ford just sighed. "Don't ever go near that again, it's dangerous."

"No shit." Tyler spat, exhausted from this horrible day. "The gnomes almost killed us for it! Why didn't you tell us, I don't know, that supernaturals shits could attack us?!"

Ford raised an eyebrow. "I thought you read my work on Gravity Falls and its weirdness magnetic properties. That you read about the documented creatures. It was a requirement for the internship in this town, and it was explained." He said with a deep harsh voice. "Do I have to tell you everything like a child?! You're a grown man!"

Tyler flinched at being called out in such a way by his boss. He looked down embarrassed and stayed silent. To his surprise, Viola spoke up with a soft voice. "I'm sure Tyler read your work, Dr. Pines, but we just didn't expect such a thing to actually happen...It was late, and we were lost, we didn't know about the statue and we should have known better than to approach it."

Tyler knew perfectly well that he was the only one messing with the statue. And yet, Viola was sharing the blame?! Why! She was so dumb, she should be blaming him and using it to raise her own favor!

Ford nodded after thinking about it. "Alright...I guess you couldn't have known about the statue…I still need to check if you're ok after being close to it though."

"Dr. Pines. The gnomes were calling us demon followers for touching the statue, and-they seemed very afraid of it. We didn't hear anything about such a thing in town, but it feels like there's something going on...Do-Do you know why?" Viola tentatively asked.

"..." Ford stayed silent, eye slightly twitching. He looked at Fiddleford for help and the blond patted the interns' shoulders. "Nevermind what they said. You only need to know that you shouldn't touch that statue again."

Viola had so many questions (even her bosses seemed to be hiding things), but she decided not to question them. She was so relieved when they reached the center, but found herself in Ford's lab with Tyler (as if spending the entire day with him wasn't enough) so he could check on them. He checked their eyes carefully, he fixed up Tyler's arm, which lucky for him it wasn't broken, and put some sensors on their forehead and temples, read the readings to himself and nodded.

"Now you're free to go." Ford waved a hand and the tired interns dragged themselves to their rooms. "You spoke up to defend me in front of Dr. Pines, why?" Tyler demanded before each went into their rooms.

Viola massaged her eyes. "I really don't know, I guess I'm not a horrible human being and didn't want you to get fired? We had enough shit today and I decided to save your butt."

"I-I don't have to thank you, I didn't ask you to do it…" Tyler mumbled. Viola rubbed her eyes again. "I don't care what you do or not. I don't expect anything from you. Nor do I expect you to respect me. I just didn't want to listen to Dr. Pines yelling at you for another hour. I'm tired. Now let me sleep." Viola entered her room and locked the door. Tyler rolled his eyes and did the same.

The next day, (Tyler already had his arm bandaged from yesterday's adventure), while the interns were having breakfast early in the morning and trying hard to 'never mind all that', like Dr. McGucket said, they saw Stanford walking to the front door of the center, active as ever. Did he even eat? Did he even sleep? He was wearing a blue turtleneck (in summer!) Compared to his red one from yesterday so he did change clothes...right?

They followed him curiously and saw him approaching a teenage girl with black hair. They spied on them quietly and discovered SHE was Candy! The girl they couldn't find yesterday! She was explaining Ford how she was going to science camp and had a project idea and asked if he could please check it up ("I thought that you could help me, being my best friend's uncle and how great you are…")

None of the interns cared though, they were busy pushing and pulling each other to follow her and finish their mission. However, as Viola pulled Tyler on his hurt arm and the boy screamed silently, Ford waved at Candy goodbye. "By the way, Candy, Mabel says hi."

"Oh, thank you!" She smiled and left.

The interns facepalmed.

-.-

Mabel was trying to get over Chad. She couldn't stay sad forever after all. So she distracted herself by immersing herself into Dipper's love life. Specifically in helping him plan out his next big date with Pacifica.

And by helping him plan, she meant setting up a date between Dipper and Pacifica.

It wasn't like Dipper was going to make the first move here. Mabel checked, he was still writing and rewriting a list of things to do for dates with his girlfriend. It wasn't as bad as with Wendy, since talking to Pacifica didn't rile Dipper up into a fit of nerves like with Wendy, but he was still a dork who needed help with getting the ball rolling. So, Mabel called up Pacifica and asked her if she wanted to come over to California to hang out during break.

Mabel never mentioned anything about a date. She just said hang out so Pacifica couldn't suspect A. THING! From what she had spied on her brother telling Paz when the two had lovey-dovey face chats, Pacifica loved video games. She had been hiding this fact to the public to not appear like a nerd, but she had told Dipper about it because she trusted him and HE was a nerd, so he had no right to mock her.

AAWW! Mabel shipped them hard.

Mabel told her parents about the plan and agreed as long as Pacifica stayed in her room. Mabel couldn't be happier. She just LOVED sleepovers! Pacifica's parents accepted grumpily, after Abigail talked to them over the phone and told them Pacifica will be fine with them. Shermie wouldn't talk because, much like his older brother, he couldn't stand the Northwest's attitude. They had lost most of their fortune, but they were certainly still very wealthy and never less arrogant.

He liked Pacifica though. She was a nice girl, nothing like her parents, and she made Mason happy. ((Besides, she always said he looked nice and that she liked his hair and eyes and that made him like her even more))

So, after catching up with the blonde girl at home, watching movies and playing board games, Mabel thought it'd be a great idea to invite Pacifica and Dipper with her to an arcade for the day. It would be like a play date, but then Mabel would just so happen to leave the two of them alone together and it would become a romantic date! Ahhhh! It was the perfect plan!

In fact…

Mabel grinned as she hid behind one of the crane-game machines and watched Dipper and Pacifica chat together. They were playing a shooter game about evil demon clowns and she watched Pacifica laugh at something Dipper said to her. They were enjoying themselves, enjoying this chance to hang out together.

Seeing her brother and friend being so happy made Mabel's heart settle. Even if she couldn't find romance, Dipper could, and that made her feel much better, seeing him happy. Mabel loved her twin and she would do whatever it took to make sure her little brother stayed happy forever with the person he loved.

Besides, Mabel giggled when Dipper pouted at Pacifica getting a higher score than him. Pacifica was in fact, a video game master, she just didn't want many people to know that. "I want revenge!" Dipper jokingly complained, and Pacifica nudged him. "Sure, you big baby. But just know you still owe me that chocolate!"

Mabel cooed. Having her friend and her brother being together was so adorable! They looked perfect together. She spied on them for a little more until Pacifica pulled Dipper closer for a kiss.

"Um, Mabel? What are you-do you mind?!" Dipper shrieked when he noticed his sister staring at them with stars in her eyes. The brunette girl squeaked before running to a new hiding spot.

-.-

Dillon watched from his seat at Phillip dutifully writing down the homework their French teacher gave them. It was summer, but French classes weren't done. The class for today, however, had just ended and he should be going outside to meet his driver…

But Mabel had scolded him and told him to grow a pair. She said he had to talk to Phillip, not just texting each other. "Face to face conversation~ Like in the old days our parents lived in~"

Dillon took a deep breath. He missed his chance to talk to him during break because he was with some friends, but now he had time to talk! He walked as casually as he could towards the boy packing his stuff up. "Um, hey~ Um...You-you did great in your presentation today…"

"Nah, don't lie, it was really bad." Phillip laughed. "I basically used an online translator for it." Dillon laughed and blurted out. "Um, I don't have anything to do right now and I was thinking you'd like to-to, I don't know? Hang out? We-We can go somewhere to play or…"

Phillip grimaced apologetically. "Sorry, dude...But I'm taking a summer course at my university to fill in some credits so I could graduate faster and I have some readings for tomorrow…" Dillon's brown eyes widened. "O-Oh! It-It's alright! Ok! DOn't WOrry! I-I had to-to take care of my little brother, now that I remember and-and you should focus on your studies, so-so see you next CLAss!" He sprinted towards the door, feeling so stupid. Of course Phillip wouldn't hang out. He was a college student, he had important things to study and do! Dillon rubbed his face.

Phillip quickly grabbed his things and followed him. "Hey, Dillon! But- if you want, maybe we can still hang out, you know? When you don't have to babysit your brother. I can't go out to play or anything, but I hang out and read at the coffee shop around the corner everyday after French class, maybe you can come and hang out with me when you aren't busy?"

Dillon laughed nervously. "Did I say babysitting? I just remembered it was for tomorrow! Yeah! I can accompany you!" Phillip smiled, his light brown eyes shining and Dillon hoped he didn't look too creepy staring at them. "Great then, let's go!"

Dillon walked next to him, marveling at how tall Phillip was. Dillon was also tall but Phillip was older so he was taller and much cuter~ Dillon texted his driver and told him where he'd be and to come in a couple of hours. To Dillon's disappointment, the evening was spent...actually studying. They bought some coffee (Dillon invited him, for "Sharing ton lieu spécial d'étude". Phillip just nodded, not understanding), and sat down on a table.

Dillon felt like such a baby. His homework was coloring inside the lines compared to Phillip. He had photocopies of his books and he was reading and highlighting and writing summaries as well. He was so responsible and Dillon just loved how dignified Phillip looked while he was concentrating.

Dillon typed to Mabel. "I'm accompanying P to study." And casually snapped a photo of Phillip studying. Mabel, who lived with her phone in her hand, answered immediately. "OMG, he's so cute, and soooo studious looking~ College boys~"

"Agree. Idk what to do tho!" Mabel sent a thinking face. "Just keep him company this time! But next time invite him for a real date!"

Dillon sighed, put his phone away and slurped his frappuccino.

-.-

For his next attempt, Dillon recalled the old trick of buying food for your crush. Phillip accompanied him to the educational institution's cafeteria where he bought delicious french fries for both of them "You should definitely try them! Best junk food you'll try." The ginger boy agreed eagerly, and hummed in bliss at the french fries. "Ah, god! This is amazing! Thank you!"

"You-You're welcome...If-If you want fries any other day, just tell me! Because I just buy them a lot and-and I need to share! Yeah!" Phillip grinned and punched his arm in a friendly gesture. "Sure, man. I'll eat your extra fries any day."

After that, it became a small tradition for them to sit during break to eat french fries. The two laughed and complained about how unhealthy it was, but neither made an attempt to stop. However, Phillip suggested they could share, so it was less money and less french fries for each of them. Dillon agreed immediately. That was so intelligent, of course it was, college student~

Dillon was so relieved his family wasn't meeting up this summer. It meant he could continue seeing Phillip and trying to…

To what?

He didn't know if the ginger boy liked boys, he probably didn't. Dillon was so scared of confessing his feelings, he feared he would lose him as a friend, but Dillon also knew that if he kept waiting, he would be even more heartbroken if (when) Phillip rejected him.

Dillon got the courage to talk to his mom about this. He was so conflicted. He loved spending time with him, it made him so happy, and...he felt Phillip liked it too, he felt...Phillip could like him too, but if he was just dreaming, his rejection was gonna hurt. "We're spending much more time together...I don't want to lose that…"

"Oh baby~" Carla hugged her baby boy closer to her. She felt a bit weird giving tips about boys to her son, but she guessed this would have been seen as normal if Dillon was a girl. And even if it felt a little odd, what with her upbringing and cultural values, she cared more about making her baby happy. "I think...you should confess your feelings, it will make you feel better. Like you said, the more time it passes, the more difficult it will be."

"But-but-" Dillon sniffled and rubbed his eyes. "But he could get angry at me...No one likes g-gay people…he could hate me..." the poor teen swallowed the lump in his throat and held back tears.

Carla stroked his hair. "That's not true…"

"A boy at school said that if a faggot liked him, he'd beat the shit out of him." Dillon mumbled.

"Those aren't people, those are assholes. A sane person would not react that way. And from what you told me, Phillip is a nice boy right? Even if he wasn't gay, he'd just take it as a compliment, say no and move on."

"So you think he wouldn't hate for being g-gay?" Dillon sniffled. His mom hugged him and kissed his forehead. "I don't know, honey, but you can be sure your family will always be there for you~" She poked his side and Dillon squirmed with a giggle. "Moom~"

"Diego, come here! Lets all poke Dillon until he pees his pants!" The toddler, who was playing on the floor, gasped and ran towards them to tickle his 'big bwotheh' "Yayy! Attack Dion!" Diego squealed as his tiny little hands found all the spots that Dillon couldn't defend.

"No! No! Guys, stop it!" Dillon squirmed and laughed loudly.

-.-

Dillon was going to try to confess his feelings to Phillip. Sure, he risked losing the most amazing boy he had ever met because Phillip could be disgusted by him, but hey! His mom said it would make him feel better so he guessed he had to trust her on this?

It was a Saturday, Dillon waved off his dad's "Hey! Where are you going?!" And replied with a "I'm hanging out with a friend! Will come home later!"

Stan looked horrified to be left alone with Diego and Peppa Pig's GODDAMN ANNOYING VOICE AND OINKS all day. "But you said you'd help me with your brother!" He seriously couldn't deal with this! He wasn't made to deal with this! Diego squealed at the cartoon pig on the TV and frowned when his daddy groaned loudly.

"Sshhh!" Diego smacked Stan's chest with his sippy cup. "I'm wachin'!

Dillon grinned. "See ya dad, enjoy toddler parenting~"

"You'll pay for this, boy!" Stan waved a fist in his direction. The children's cartoon played on. "Hi! I'm Peppa! Oink! And this is my brother George! Oink!" Diego looked delighted and clapped with joy.

"No! NO! NOOOOO!" Stanley cried in despair.

Dillon met with his driver who diligently took him to the coffee shop he had been going to a lot recently. "Are you going to meet with that ginger boy, master Dillon?"

"Yup~ We're going to his house later, I think? He said we would go to a secret place!" Dillon not-quite squealed.

The driver sighed. It was not his duty, but he cared for the boy. "Well, if you don't know where you are going...keep your mother informed and tell me exactly where you want to be picked up and I'll be there, ok?"

"Sure, don't worry." Dillon waved it off. Dillon waited for his friend in the coffee shop with a big innocent smile on his face. He wrote to his friend that he had arrived. Phillip didn't respond. It was ok~ He could plan how to confess his feelings.

Dillon waited for Phillip patiently, texting him from time to time, but nothing. A waiter asked him if he'd order and he had to order a muffin to stay.

"Phillip, where are u? Are you ok? I'm in the coffee shop…" He wrote again and sighed. He hugged his muffin close to him and the brown haired teen held back tears. Why wasn't Phillip coming? What if he found out he was gay!? What if he didn't want to hang out with him anymore?! Dillon wiped his tears and was about to call his driver to pick him up because there was a 'change of plans' when a panting ginger came into the coffee shop. Dillon's eyes lit up and ran towards him.

"Phillip! What-What the hell!?" He complained lightly. The red-haired teen moaned and motioned him to follow him. "Sorry, got late, had to pick up some stuff for someone." He made his backpack jump.

"Pick stuff? For who?" The younger asked curiously and Phillip smiled. "Some kids, they need it, you'll meet them, I bring them more supplies almost every time I can."

"You, you get stuff for some kids every time you can? And, just for free?" Dillon raised an eyebrow.

"Let's say my payment is not really in money...but you'll see! It's much greater~ They're great, tough guys, we really have fun when we meet up."

Dillons mildy worried face didn't leave him even as they got on the bus. He examined Phillip to distract himself. He had put on all his piercings today, even the nose and eyebrow one. Huh, nice~

"You like them?" Phillip asked with a smile as Dillon blushed. He caught him staring! "I have a friend who can pierce whatever body part you want! Though, since you're still underaged, you'll need your parent's permission. Legally anyway."

"Eh~ I'm not sure I'm a piercing guy...Your-your parents didn't say anything against it?" Dillon asked. Phillip shrugged. "I got my first one at 15, they couldn't do anything since it was with my own money and I found a guy who would give 'em to him even without parental consent." Here, Phillip frowned. "It was fine for me because I knew the guy really well, but you probably shouldn't get piercings from anyone shady enough to pierce you without legal consent." he told Dillon, who laughed "Well I'm not gonna get a piercing so it's fine, thanks for worrying about me..."

Phillip coughed awkward before nodding. "Wha-What were we talking about?" Dillon giggled. "Your parents and piercings"

"Oh! Ri-Right...Then my parents understood that I liked it and it was just my way of expressing myself, so they didn't get too mad at me. I have to take them off for laboratory classes though, for security reasons."

"That's cool~" Dillon put on headphones and looked out of the bus' windows, getting increasingly worried as they got further and further away from the zones he knew. He had been around lots of places, but there were parts his mother had told him not to go as she considered them dangerous. He looked at the bag Phillip was hugging towards himself and decided to ask. "So~ What-What do you have there?"

"Stuff for the kids we're meeting remember?" The ginger said and Dillon rolled his eyes. "I know that, but what kind of stuff?" Phillip wrapped an arm around his shoulders and smiled softly. "It's a surprise~ Don't worry~" He said with a calm voice, and it made Dillon relax. Phillip seemed to realize his hug was getting too long (and awkward in his eyes) and slowly let go.

He looked away and missed the brown-haired boy's disappointed look.

At some point, they reached their stop and the two teens walked out. This place was making Dillon a little nervous. He wasn't a sheltered kid (God no!), he simply...had never had any reason to come to this part of the city. "Do...your friends live here?" Dillon asked with a small tentative smile. "This is where I give them the stuff!" Phillip grinned.

Dillon bit his lip and followed his friend through the loud streets. From what he had gotten today, he was starting to make very bad assumptions he hoped weren't true. 'Please, don't be a drug dealer, please don't be a drug dealer!'

"Keep your phone in your pocket ok?" Phillip warned him at some point, when the two walked by a place where some people were starting to look at them. It also smelled very weird. Dillon wrinkled his nose. He knew that smell from the awful parties he had been to. Ugh. Weed.

"Phillip, where are we going?" Dillon asked once again and walked up to him to stay even closer. And if Phillip got upset he was too close, he could tell him it was just a precaution. His friend never replied and they took a turn to walk through an alley. Before Dillon could assume the worst, they walked out of there, turned left and...they were in front of a hospital…

O-Oh.

Phillip smiled widely. "Welcome to the Saint Peter's children hospital. I volunteer here every Saturday!"

"This-this is the cool place you wanted to show me?" Dillon raised an eyebrow. Phillip blushed a little and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah?" Dillon's eyes narrowed. "Why would you keep saying this was a surprise and make this all creepy!? I was worried! I thought you were taking me to a drug deal or some shit!"

Phillip snorted loudly and let out a laugh, a beautiful laugh in Dillon's ears, but he was still upset about this secrecy. "Let's go inside, you'll like it." Dillon pouted and only followed because his crush was still cute.

Inside, some doctors waved at Phillip and smiled at him. He pulled out a pink doctor coat that the hospital gave to volunteers. "Do-Do you want to help?" Phillip asked Dillon softly. "I-I should have told you where we were going, but I didn't want you to say no, this is important for me, and I wanted to share it with you…" Phillip rubbed his arm sheepishly.

Dillon's eyes widened a bit as he gasped softly. Phillip considered him important enough to share this with him?! He internally squealed and accepted the pink coat. If Phillip loved this, then he loved it as well! Phillip explained how they were going to go to the pediatric wing with the children and how some of them were very sick. Dillon nodded.

It was...shocking at first sight, Dillon had to admit. And it hurt him. So many kids here. He stayed aside for a while, preferring not to upset the kids with his long face, and just watched Phillip do his job and make the little kids laugh. In his backpack, Phillip had bought toys and some candy, that Dillon later learnt Phillip had bought them with his own money for the kids. He finally understood the tough guys part. They were indeed very tough children. The kids here were very ill, but they didn't let that get them down.

A little girl squealed when she saw Phillip and hugged his arm. "You put it on!" She giggled, pointing at his nose piercing. "Yup! You really liked it the other day!" He poked her cheek and the toddler giggled loudly. "Who is that?!" She pointed at Dillon, standing by the doorway. "Oh! He's Dillon! A very good friend who came to visit you!"

"OOHH!" Another little boy gasped. "He's the boy you telled us about?!"

The two teens blushed madly when all the kids started giggling at them. "Is he your boooooyfriend~?" one of the little girls teased. Dillon stiffened but Phillip just sputtered and said, "H-hey!" before changing the subject. So… Dillon wasn't too sure how Phillip felt about that idea.

Dillon eventually joined in to play with the kids too, reading a story book to the kids with funny voices. He was great at reading to little kids, if he said so himself, he had practice with Diego afterall. He loved when he looked up from time to time and Phillip was with the actual doctors who came to check on the children. Phillip was so focused on what they said and he asked some questions here and there, eager to learn about a profession he was clearly passionate about. He had put on gloves a while back and helped change the IV's on some kids, or check their throats with a wooden stick. Some doctors even lent him their equipment after they had checked the kids so Phillip could check himself. Dillon was really amazed. He had seen his crush study very hard before, but now he could see him on action.

They took a break hours later. They went to the hospital cafeteria. The food wasn't good, Phillip jokingly told him, so they just sat down with water and some chips. "It's actually great the docs here let you work with them and teach you stuff." Dillon smiled. "Sometimes, when I go with my dad to work, he kinda explains stuff but his co-workers just ignore me." Phillip grinned. "Well, I've been a volunteer for years now, and they know I wanna be a doctor, so I have… 'special treatment~' It's great to have free classes." He grinned and Dillon swooned. So precious!

As they ate, Dillon said. "I would have still come if you'd told me we were coming here...You-You're my friend, and I just wanted to spend some time with you…" He confessed. Phillip sighed. "I'm sorry...It's that...not many people I know like to do this...my friends at college don't wanna come by on their days off just to play with children and many people don't like this part of the city, but they also need volunteers, you know?"

"You're great with kids, my only real interaction with children is with my brother and occasionally my baby cousins!" Phillip laughed at that. "That's already better than some of the kids at my school."

"-you're going to be a great doctor…" Dillon hugged his coke and looked down, blushing.

Phillip tucked a bit of hair behind his ear before coughing. "So, what do you want to study?" Phillip asked him. Dillon made a thinking face. "Well, I like marketing, my dad studied business but his company is FULL publicity, they work with other companies and that kind of stuff. So, I'd like to continue with the family business." Phillip nodded, interested. "That's actually great, keeping your family's profession. My dad's a surgeon, and while not exactly medicine, my mom is a psychologist."

"That's so awesome!" Dillon gasped. "Well, my mom is an dramaturgist and actress. Works on Broadway."

"No way!"

The two teens talked a bit more about their lives, listening with full attention to each other until Phillip chuckled at the question "Why do you want to be a doctor?' Was it because of your dad?"

"Oh no, nothing like that…" Phillip sighed and held his empty bottle between his hands. "When I was a kid, I-I was kind of a dick ok? I was always angry and uncomfortable ALL the time, and I didn't know why, I couldn't understand it, so I just took it on everybody. I fought with my dad every day, I got grounded a lot, my mom was very worried about me, and I just totally ignored her or snapped at her. Yeah, a total dickhead." The ginger confessed. "I did pretty stupid things too, all the time, because I didn't care about anything, and I guess it took my head off the things I couldn't understand...I got a fight with some bad kids, real bad kids this time." He chuckled a bit. "And, aside from all the beating, I actually got stabbed!" Dillon gasped in horror and Phillip pulled up his shirt a little to show him the scar. "Look at this fucker, the mark of my sins." Phillip swooned dramatically.

Dillon couldn't help but snort.

"So, you can guess I ended up pretty hurt, and had to stay in the hospital for a while. As I was...14, I think, I was stuck in the pediatric ward. My parents were so scared for me, but I still didn't care about anything, I was complaining about the colors, and the pictures on the walls~ and how stupid everything was~ and how I wished they killed me so I didn't have to look at the doctors' stupid faces~ That kind of stuff."

"Wow...I can't really see you doing that…" Dillon frowned. Phillip nodded. "Trust me. You wouldn't have liked me one bit as a kid. I hated people at that age." He grinned though. "But, despite being a dick, the doctor and nurses were really nice to me, they helped me, tried to make everything less painful and horrible. One nurse was particularly nice. He had to stay with me because I pulled at my IV and tried to open my stitches on purpose, a total maniac! He had to watch me. He'd listen to me rant and rant about how stupid everything was and how I hated everything and how everything and everyone also hated ME! But he tried to understand me."

Phillip felt so comfortable around Dillon that he was managing to tell him about this. "And then, he told me something. He was like 'dude, I know why you're always so angry.' He was african american and he spoke with AAVE, I liked how he spoke, and he said 'boy, you gay as fuck, my dude, and you're just stressed because you're trying ta be something you're not.' It turned out he was right. Everything and everyone around me, every movie, book, commercial and family kept saying how boys should date girls, that it was the 'normal thing' to do. It was stressing me out. I didn't feel that way about it. But I didn't realize that, and it made me angry because I didn't understand why I felt so uncomfortable about it. This man and all the doctors in that hospital saved my life. That's why I swore I'd be better and become a pediatrician so I could help-"

Dillon didn't hear the rest of the explanation. At all. He started spacing out after he heard the word 'gay'.

'He's gay, he's gay, he's gay, he's gay, he's gay'

His brown eyes were wide, and he couldn't really hide his shock. His mouth was agape. Phillip finished his explanation and slowly, his own eyes widened. Oh. Did-Did he just out himself in front of Dillon!?

"Yeah...I'm gay…"Phillip confessed, but lowered his voice a little bit. "Sorry for not telling you before...I-I not embarrassed, I swear, but-but I just don't like going around telling people, you-you know?" The ginger teen looked really nervous, Dillon was still gaping. "Dillon? It's ok, right? I-I understand if you don't wanna hang out? I-I'm not going to change who I am."

"You-you're gay? I'm a gay!" Dillon finally managed to blurt out. Phillip paused. "Wait, really?! You're gay?"

"I-I-" Dillon's cheeks turned completely red. "I've been meaning to tell you this for a while now but I was scared you'd stop being my friend! But you're gay too! Haha!" He laughed maniacally and Phillip frowned, a little worried now. "Dillon?"

"I'vehadacrushonyousincethedayIsawyou,IthinkyouareamazingandprettyandIloveyourhair!IreallyreallylikeyoubutIwassoscaredoftellingyouthisbecauseIthoughtyouwouldn'twanttobemyfriendagainbutI'mSOgladyouaregaybecausethiswayIcantellyouthiswithoutfearingtoloseyou!" Dillon took a deep breath after not breathing at all.

Phillip was stunned by the sudden confession. He smiled a bit and ran his hand through his hair. "Tha-Thank you…" He let out a silly giggle. "I-I think you're pretty handsome too. And I like spending time with you...You're great…"

Dillon's face couldn't go any more red. "I...I'm going to pass out…" He couldn't believe this was actually happening. "So...are we dating now? Is-Is this a date?" He asked very softly, as if scared.

Phillip laughed. "Ye-yeah! I think so!" He paused for a second, a little worried. "You're...16 right?" Dillon smiled even wider. "I'll turn 17 in July!" Phillip seemed very relieved about this and chuckled sheepishly. "Great, that's-that's great!" The two looked at each other for a few seconds before Dillon slowly grabbed his hands. Phillip chuckled. "But you're still underaged, so, no offense, but nothing's gonna be happening between us until you're older."

Dillon snorted. "Yeah, that's fine." He was just happy that Phillip liked him back and they were dating now!

-.-

So, now that he had a boyfriend, Dillon considered it was finally a good time to tell his dad. Phillip's parents knew and accepted him. Phillip's mom was nice and gave him cookies. Dillon should introduce Phillip to his own parents as well, it was only fair. Uncle Seb sounded SO confused about how he had hid it for years. Stan wouldn't give two shits about it! But Uncle SEB hadn't told everyone he was pan either! So he could just shut up!

After getting lots of heart emojis from Phillip, he made his parents sit in the living room, and told them he had something very important to tell them. Diego was there too, because, well, he was a baby, he couldn't be left alone. He was busy playing with his legos though, so he wasn't paying attention to Dillon anyway.

"So, what do you want, kid?" Stan raised a bored eyebrow. He probably would explain how he really wanted some game or something for his birthday. And his answer would depend on how expensive it were close to his birthday though, so he'd just have to say yes to anything.

"Yeah, um...there's something I wanted to tell you a long time ago, but-but I was really scared…" He took a deep breath before continuing, holding his hands to keep from shaking. "I-I don't like girls, dad, I don't like them at all...I'm-I'm gay always have been..."

Stan was shocked, he didn't expect Dillon to tell him that... He went silent. Carla frowned and held his hand. Dillons courage was slowly vanishing. His dad was never going to talk to him again.

Finally, Stan sighed and ran a hand through his face and hair. "You know I have guns, right Dillon? And I can use them whenever I want…"

Carla stared in shock as Dillon slowly backed away from his parents. "Da-Dad…" His eyes welled up with scared tears. No, no, he definitely hated him now!

Dillon started sobbing. "I-I was joking, I'm SORRY! DAD, PLEASE, I'M SORRY!"

Unaffected by his cries, Stan stood up and walked towards his shaking son. "I guess there are new rules in this house now…" Dillon looked down, ashamed, ready to hear him say he needed to get ou- "No taking a boy up to your room alone, not without having them cleared by me first!" Stan said simply. "And, like, we keep condoms in the box under the bathroom sink. But-But you're NOT allowed to do anything that would require them until you're 18, got it?" Stan huffed. "And if any boy hurts you, I've got guns. And all the lawyers I'd need to make them regret it."

Carla managed to breathe again and laughed in relief. What a dick. Scaring her and Dillon like that.

Dillon stared at his dad with tears in his wide eyes. Stan's stern look softened. "Come here, kid." He opened his arms and Dillon rushed into the hug.

Stan hugged Dillon. "Dillon...I'm sorry you felt the need to hide this from me…" Stan sighed and Dillon wiped his tears. "I-I didn't know how you'd react and-and I didn't want to lose you or to m-make you hate me...You always talked about me having girlfriends and liking girls and-and I didn't want to disappoint you…" The teen sniffled.

"What? No! Kiddo, I don't want you to hide something from me ever again, ok? You like men? Who the fuck cares?! You know how much I was looking forward to meeting you?! You being gay changes nothing. You're MY kid." Dillon buried his face in his neck and Stan patted his back, before waving a hand around. "Besides, I've seen so many weird alien stuff. 'Gay' happens to be the least weird thing I've seen." Stan chuckled. "Remind me to tell you about all the aliens that hit on me and Ford back when we were in space. I swear most of them didn't even have male or female."

Carla frowned. "Yeah, Stan, we'd love to hear about that!" Stan paled a bit, realizing he spoke too much.

"Thank you…" Dillon sniffled and Stan rolled his eyes, deciding to ignore Carla right now (he'd assure her he loved her later). "Yeah, yeah, you're so overdramatic, no shit, of course you are! Seb raised you!" Dillon made a wet laugh.

Diego looked up. "What is gay?"

"Means that I want to date a boy and kiss him, instead of a girl." Diego wrinkled his nose. "Eewwwww! Kissing is gwoss!"

Carla laughed and kissed her oldest baby's forehead. Dillon smiled. "Oh, it's actually great you accept this, 'cuz I kind of have a boyfriend now."

"WHaT?!" Stan shrieked.

Carla gasped. "Ooh~ That's amazing, sweetie! You can invite him to the wedding!"

Dillon raised an eyebrow. "Which wedding?" There was a wedding?

"Ours!" Carla said, as Stan was too busy realizing his baby had a boyfriend and he had to deal with him!

"What the fuck?! Aren't you married?!" Dillon gasped and Carla shrugged. "Apparently not yet? But your uncle Seb and Wanda are getting married as well! It's a double wedding!"

"Oh my gosh, I love that!" Dillon squealed and hugged his parents. "I'm so, so happy, guys!" He screamed. "Me too!" Diego shrieked and ran towards them. He didn't really get what was going on, but he wanted a hug too.

Stan laughed and hugged his family, lifting them up in the air. He snuggled his boys closer to him. He was definitely taken aback by Dillon's confession, he had never personally dealt with someone gay before and he didn't know how to talk about 'boys' to boys (and he wouldn't be able to talk about girls until Diego was old enough, unless Diego turned out to be gay too, but Stan would deal with that when it happened), but he would make his best effort, he wanted his baby happy...

 

\----.-----

_And I drew this in an hour so you guys had a drawing to enjoy with the chapter! Meet Viola and Tyler! Look at that jerk..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter was mainly dedicated to the teens and the interns because we love messing with them. Leave a comment please we love hearing what you think! See ya soon!


	14. Chapter 13: Settings things straight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hii! New chapter! Hope you enjoy it!

Seb couldn't let go of his ring. He went everywhere with it. He loved it so much and it was all sparkly and pretty!

He didn't let the twins touch it with their filthy baby hands either so that meant he cared a lot about it. (He pretty much let the twins do whatever not harmful thing they wanted, so the fact that this was the line he drew… well, it meant a lot).

Wanda was also very happy that he was taking this better than expected. She had talked to Carla (who scolded Stan for ruining the surprise) and they were starting to look up places and menus and decorations. Stan helped from time to time but was glad the women were taking care of it, he really had no idea. Seb, on the other hand, was tormenting him with ideas for suits and colors and he needed to stop.

"Seb. It's just a suit. I'll just buy a suit." Stan told him over the phone, and rolled his eyes when he heard Seb gasp, offended. "Just a-but this is a human tradition that is all about looking amazing and having people looking at you!"

"It's women who worry about wedding clothes, Seb. Men don't really have much of a choice, aside from the color of the suit, which is like, or black or blue." Stan explained, but Seb didn't take no as an answer. Not when it was about the one thing he was PERFECT at!

"I'll make us the PERFECT suit, ok?! And I'll prove that you don't have to wear a dress to be the center of attention at your wedding! Men DESERVE it as much as any bride!"

"Alright, you do you…" Stan rolled his eyes and went back to working, kind of ignoring his brother's rants. He vaguely wondered if the demon they fought was also this pretentious. William didn't seem like it, but he did like dressing up in...weird clothes… Stan made a face at the memory of that… Maid outfit...

Seb sat in the living room with a sketchbook to start drawing and planning the perfect suit to make Stan shut his yap. The twins noticed him relaxing, and because he was basically prohibited to be in peace in his own house, they jumped over him and demanded to watch tv with him. He floated them away, not looking up. "Don't bother me, brats! I'm working on something really important."

"Daddy! TV!" Zoe pleaded. "We wanna wash with you!" Seb waved a hand and the twins squealed when they were floated back to their room. "I'm busy here! Make an imaginary friend or something."

The twins shrieked and grabbed at the door frame with all their might. "No!" Zully screamed as Zoe clawed and tried to get rid of the magic around them.

"DDAAADDDDD!" They screamed at the same time, their high pitched screams making Seb wince. "URGH! FINE!" The yellow glow surrounding the twins put them down on the floor. The twins high-fived and happily skipped to the couch, snuggling next to their dad. Sebastian sighed at his adorable toddlers and ruffled their soft long hair with a smirk. Zully's hair had grown again, he was so happy to be able to comb it again! (much to the oldest toddler's displeasure, but they were too shy to complain about it). Zoe grabbed the sketchbook Seb left on the couch arm as he searched for the remote control, but she quickly had it snatched from her. "NO. This is work. You touch this, and you will sleep in the yard tonight." He threatened with his eye slowly turning red.

Zoe left it alone, lucky for her, but she didn't like being denied things. "You can-can't make me sleep thewe! Mommy don't let you!" She crossed her arms and looked at Zully for support, but her twin simply shrugged helplessly. They didn't know. Mommy was always on daddy's side. "Oh, mommy will do whatever I say, with the right words and strategies." Seb winked and the kids giggled, not understanding the meaning but still thinking it was funny. He turned on the TV for them and they jumped happily on their seats when one of their colorful shows appeared on TV.

"PUPPY COPS!" Zully roared loudly and started smacking their dad's chest with a tiny hand. "Ow, ow, ow." Seb said with a deadpan look. "I love puppies." They said happily and Seb nodded. "Yeah, I can see that!"

"PUPPY COPS! Puppy cops! We'll be thewe on the double! Whenever thewe's a pwoblem 'Round Aventure Bay, Ryder and his team of pups! Will come and save the day!" Zoe happily sang as Zully stared at the screen. Every cartoon had a voice speaking very weird at the beginning with confusing noises in the background. Zully didn't understand, but Zoe loved them.

""Marshall, Rubble, Chase, Rocky, Zuma, Skye!"" Both the twins could name the puppies though. "Yeah! They're on the way!"

Seb cooed loudly at the toddler's excitement. They were so adorable. Why were babies so adorable?! He wanted to bite theemm! He leaned closer to Zully but…"OOW!" He screamed when Zoe bit him first. "No dawe!" She huffed.

"Why can you bite me, but I can't bite you back?!" Seb whined.

"Becuz we awe small and kids and you can't huwt us." Zoe explained wisely and Seb rolled his eye. "We will see about that~"

"Shhh! shut up pwease!" Zully complained angrily. Seb and Zoe laughed silently to themselves, covering their mouths. "Daddy!" Zoe spoke again, not caring for her sibling who was concentrated on watching.

"Yes?"

"I-I will dwess like Skye in-in Hawoween!" Zoe declared. They were going trick or treating for the first time, and she was pretty excited. Dad said they just had to wear a costume and be adorable and they'd get candy! She was adorable by nature, getting candies would be easy.

"Ohh~ That's a great idea, baby~" Zoe giggled and threw herself to her dad's chest, hitting his jaw accidentally. He whimpered. Why?! WHY?!

"And you will be Ridew!"

"Hahahaha!" Seb laughed with a shrill voice. "That's not going to happen."

"And Zully can be Evewest or-or Sweetie!"

Zully's head snapped back at the two of them and both Zoe and Seb wince at the angry look they were giving them. " **NO**!" The child growled. "I don't wanna be them! I wanna be Chase! Not a girl!" Despite their angry look, Zully's eyes were full of tears.

Seb raised his arms as a surrender gesture. Zoe imitated him. "It's ok, you can totally be Chase, princess. There's nothing wrong with being a girl Chase! You can dress up as whoever you want."

Zully rubbed her eyes and nodded. Ok. They liked that.

"We can dwess up like ANY chawacter?! Even if thewe not giwls?" Zoe gasped and Seb nodded. "Of course! Anyone can dress as whatever they want!" He squeezed their chubby cheeks and the toddlers giggled. Zully tried to forget how weird it felt to be called a girl. Zoe knew she was a girl, but Zully was still unsure about it.

But mommy and daddy said they were a girl...

Zully was distracted spacing out, and barely noticed when Sebastian stood up to get Zoe (and by default, them) water. While Seb was busy washing the sippy cups (the twins had been drinking melted jelly, they loved it), his phone started ringing and surprisingly, it was Dillon. He hadn't called in a while.

Sureee! Now that he had a DAD! He had forgotten about his UNCLE! Of course! (Seb wasn't… bitter, not exactly, just a little miffed that his oldest nephew didn't call him as much as he used to).

"Yellow, brother's oldest spawn!" Seb grinned at the phone.

"...You're weird. I'll call again and I expect a kind of normal reply." Dillon groaned.

"Call again and I won't reply." Seb shrugged.

"Alright. Fine~ I'll embrace your weirdness." Dillon rolled his eyes when he heard his uncle exclaim a "Thank you~So, what did you call for? Your cousins want water and I need to give it to them before getting hit.

The teen chuckled. Those little demons. "I was calling to tell you that, well, I thought you deserved to know, because you're a great uncle and you were there for me while dad was gone…"

Just tell me already!"

"I'm gay!" Dillon said.

Seb blinked. "Oh. Alright…? And what..should I do with that information?"

Dillon mumbled. "Well...I thought you needed to know, I'm coming out now because I have a boy-boyfriend and I love him and I don't want to hide it anymore!" Dillon said firmly.

Dillon sounded so sure of himself, he didn't want to hide who he was anymore, and Sebastian guessed he was proud of that? Everyone deserved to feel comfortable as they were, but...why was he so proud of telling him he was ga-OH! Right! Humans had a problem with it! Right, he remembered his conversation with Alex and Johnny now.

"Well, it's nice that you recognize it?" Seb chuckled. "According to some friends who seem to know about that labeling, I'm 'pan'?." He verbally quoted. Dillon smiled. "I-I know, the twins told me you used to have a boyfriend."

"Yeah, and I felt attracted towards other people against my will! I used to think it was a normal human thing to do, then I was told it wasn't, and now again I know it's ok. You know what I think is weird though? The fact that some people ONLY like one sex you know? Human feelings are so strange. Like, ALL of them are HUMANS! The same species, so what does it matter which one you like? But I guess they all base themselves on their ability to procreate?" He looked at the living room where the twins were entertained with the colorful cartoon. He grinned.

"What were we talking about?"

Dillon groaned. "That I'm gay. And...I have a boyfriend too!"

"OOHHH!" Seb's eye widened, thinking on ways to tease his nephew the next time he saw him. "That's nice~ Enjoy your boyfriend, be good, don't do nasty things, you are a baby."

"ARGH! Uncle Sebastian!" Dillon stuck his tongue out but laughed anyway. Phillip was cute but he didn't want to do it with him yet! They were barely dating! "So, I'd appreciate it if you didn't go around telling everybody? I told my parents and Granny Kari...she's still processing…" Dillon let out a worried sigh. "She said she wanted gra- grandbabies from me…" Dillon blushed at that. He was still a teenager. He was not going to be thinking about children already!

Seb couldn't help but snort. He poured water into the sippy cups. "I'm not Shooting Star, don't worry I won't tell on you. And Ma just wants us to have an army of kids, and she's still not resigned over the fact that Ford will never have them, so while trying to guilt-trip him into doing it, she's making all of us work double time to compensate!"

Dillon laughed out loud at the declaration.

"And don't worry, kid. Ma loves all of you, ok? She'll come to terms with it. How did Stan react?" their conversation was interrupted by the twins screaming from the living room.

""DAAD! THWISTY!""

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Seb shouted back. "Do I need to give Stan a smack?" Dillon giggled. "Nah, everything's cool. Better than I expected, actually…I-I thought I'd never be able to tell him, I thought he would hate me..." He confessed ashamed.

"Hah! Fez hates a lot of things. But feel special, you aren't one of those things, he wouldn't hate you for who you like, kid, geez. Were you seriously scared of that?"

**""DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!""**

"I gotta go now. Gotta see how the puppies save the dolphin or I'll fail the critters' test to see if I was paying attention." Seb said, sounding mildly scared. Dillon laughed and told him he was free to go with his hellspawns. Before Seb hung up though, the brunet man sighed. "Um, one more thing though...Thanks for trusting me with something you think is important, it-it means a lot...And, please, don't try to hide yourself, ok?"

Dillon sniffled and blinked back tears, but he'd deny it. "...Ok. T-Thank you."

Sebastian took the sippy cups to the toddlers and sat down with them. "Kiddos, you'd tell me if something is bothering you right? I can be trusted now! I'm a good human...You can tell me anything." He said solemnly.

Zoe and Zully received their water and stared at their dad. "Yes." Zoe deadpanned. "We want you to shut up."

Seb scoffed and stood up. "You're horrible and I don't like you anymore! Good luck finding someone to fix your hippo's leg!" He spat at the toddler, acting like a child himself, and left the room. Zoe gasped and ran after her daddy, apologizing and pleading him to fix her toy.

Zully sighed in relief, finally some silence to watch their favorite cartoon. The toddler poked their eye with their bottle, winced and rubbed their eye. Augh! They did it again! They moved the sippy cup and finally managed to put it in their mouth. Zully sighed, it was such a pain to eat and drink while watching Tv! Almost instinctively, they closed their eyes as they drank.

You couldn't see Tv while drinking! It was so annoying!

The little child's eyes flew back open as soon as they finished drinking, and continued watching Tv normally, ignoring the screams coming from their silly dad and loud twin sister.

-.-

Stan was a nervous wreck. He was stressed at work (a campaign for a new product was coming and their client was an ass to deal with), he was tormented by the idea of the preparations to get married (Carla already got angry at him for 'not caring enough') and WORST of all: his baby boy had a boyfriend and he was going out everyday out with that BOY and Stan didn't know him, hadn't checked if that mystery boy was good enough for Dillon, and Stan wanted to use his brass knuckles!

"Stan, you have to stop worrying." Carla told him. They were in their car. They had taken a few hours to see the place they were planning to rent for their wedding, it was some sort of big salon. They had decided to have their wedding here in New York, Seb and Wanda were in charge of decorations and invitations. Both couples would decide the catering service.

"I'm not worried!" Stan exclaimed, you know, like a liar.

"Dillon is a big boy and he can date whoever he wants. He knows how to take care of himself." The woman explained patiently, but Stan would have none of that. He snarled. "I just don't like the idea of some boy kissing and touching him!" He considered what he said before adding. "And not because it grosses me out he's dating a boy! I don't care about that! It just bothers me he's doing it now."

Carla raised an eyebrow. "You do know we started dating at 14 right? And that we did more than kissing and touching by the time we were Dillon's age."

"But it's different! Your father was also annoyed at first! Remember? It's normal for me to get worried!" He justified himself with a huff. Carla rolled her eyes. "You were eager to meet Dillon's crush just weeks ago when you thought they were a girl, Stan. What's different now? Does the kid being gay changes the way he would treat his partner or how he will be treated? Or because he's dating a boy he suddenly becomes 'your baby' and you think he's weak and defenseless?" She asked with narrowed eyes. Stan wanted to speak again, but she interrupted him.

"You wouldn't be worried and stressed and overthinking about someone touching Dillon if it was a girl. You know you wouldn't care. In fact, I'm totally sure you would be glad HE was leading that touching." She grabbed his hand and forced him to look up at her, his expression was troubled. "And I feel in some way it's part of how everyone is raised you know? Dads overprotect their daughters, want to keep them away from mean boys, and it's the exact opposite for their sons. They're taught to be with girls or they aren't real men. Which is really stupid if you think about it. Boys are told they HAVE to be with a girl and have sex to he considered real men, while girls are told that they cannot have sex or else they are a slut. So you end up with girls who refuse and boys who keep pushing them to do it. And then no one is happy." Carla huffed.

"And right now, the second you find out Dillon's got a boyfriend, you're in that trap. You're overprotecting Dillon now because he's dating a 'mean' boy, who, in your subconscious thoughts, is only after Dillon for sex."

Stan pouted even harder because he didn't want to believe that's true.

"But. Dillon is an intelligent kid, alright? So try to trust him more. And don't let him see how you're upset. He'll think you're upset with him." Carla poked his nose with a soft grin. "Now, we're going to get inside because its time, see if the place is right for our wedding, and you are going to smile and stop scowling like a grumpy old man."

"I'm not a grumpy old man!" Stan complained. He felt that what Carla told him was true right now, but he couldn't help it. He was going to try to feel more comfortable with it…

But he wouldn't like it one bit!

"OWW!" Stan yelped when Carla fucking pinched his neck with her long ass nails! "What was THAT FOR?!"

"Smiling I said!"

-.-

Dillon had never been so happy in his entire life. Well, ok, the best day of his life was when he saw his dad for the first time in Gravity Falls, but this was the second best happiness he had had. He was dating PHILLIP! PHILLIP ABBOTT! IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED!

Their French semester finished in the middle of August, Dillon got excellent grades, Phillip barely passed, and now they had some weeks to spend together before school/university started again.

Mabel said those were their special 'fluff moments' and he needed to take advantage of it.

After a nice Saturday of helping at the hospital, Phillip, as broke as any college student, in all his power, invited his boyfriend to a fancy lunch at WcDonalds. Dillon thought this couldn't be more perfect. "I think we can take the bus back and find a WcDonalds." Phillip checked his phone for the bus schedule.

"Nah, I'll call Aaron. I'm tired of giving my seat to old entitled ladies who don't wanna use the reserve seats for them." Dillon texted his driver as Phillip laughed. Yeah, sure. He wasn't sure who Aaron was, a friend? An uncle? Well, it was someone Dillon was gonna get to drive them around... Like a Taxi?

Phillip realized it wasn't a taxi on the way to WD. The man was wearing a suit and he called his boyfriend "Master". The best thing an Aber driver ever called Phillip was "My bro."

"Hey Aaron! This is Phillip! The guy who loves public transport!" Dillon jokingly introduced them. Phillip blushed at the description and Dillon held his hand.

"Oh. So this is the boy you go with every Saturday." Aaron nodded. "Why didn't you tell me to pick you up before? That would have been safer, you know your parents prefer my service."

"I was with Phillip, I was safe." Dillon hugged Phillip's arm and leaned on his shoulder. Phillip blushed even more. Aaron grinned knowingly.

They were left at the WcDonalds and after ordering, they couldn't stop staring at each other. Dillon's ice cream started melting on his hand, but he didn't care. Phillip was crushing his hamburger. "You're so cute...You know you have the most adorable freckles…Like kisses on your cheeks~" Phillip felt his cheeks were warming up. "Now tell me a cheesy thing too~"

Dillon smiled. "Your hair is just perfect, like glowing fire and your face seems like it was carved by the gods themselves~" the two teens giggled and Phillip held his hand. "I love you."

"I love you too." Dillon said and even let Phillip take a bite of his ice cream.

"So~ I'm curious. Why do you have a driver?" Phillip asked with a sexy raised eyebrow. Dillon shrugged. "Dad's too busy to drive me places. Mom's busy too. And they were both worried about me going off on my own without supervision." Dillon rolled his eyes. "So they thought having a driver would help. Not that they know I just have Aaron drive me somewhere and then walk the rest of the way."

"What does your dad do? I think you said your mom is an actress?"

"I think it's like, marketing? Advertisement? Publicity? No, that's not the right way to put it either." Dillon scratched his nose in thought. "You know StanCo? My dad's the CEO, he founded it."

Phillip's eyes widened. "Wow, wow wait. You mean StanCo? The company that's behind every single other huge company and brand?" Dillon shrugged. "I… guess? I don't know every company that uses dad's services? How do you know about it?"

"Well." Phillip thumped his fingers. "It sponsored a program at my college for future freshmen. My college also has admin as a career and I've been told the internship is hard as balls."

Dillon snorted loudly. "Yeah, my dad's a dick to interns. But he's a good boss...I don't know how he manages it while also training, like, I can barely handle just school and some days in basketball!"

"Training? For what?" Phillip asked and Dillon sighed. "Because he plays football, duh. Haven't you seen him at least once? He plays in the New Eagle Patriots as cornerback. You know? Stan Pines? But to be fair, I think he's leaving the team next year or so to become a coach?"

Phillip gasped even louder than before. "WAIT. Your dad is Stan Pines?! THE Stan Pines The player?! I didn't know he was also a CEO?"

"Well, yeah?" Dillon didn't know what was the big deal, but Phillip was losing his shit. "How come I didn't know that, baby?!" Dillon smiled like silly at being called baby. "Well, babe, you never asked me my parents' names~"

Phillip ran a hand through his red hair. "Oh my fucking god~So...don't tell he's the one who founded the research center in Oregon? I heard that was a Pines too? One of my friend's sister, who's studying bioengineering, applied for the internship but didn't get in... But that's silly. Why would your dad have a science center right?" He giggled nervously, feeling weird for ranting.

Dillon giggled. He's so adorable. "Yeah, no, that's my uncle Stanford. The National Institute of bla bla bla. I prefer just calling it the Mystery Shack Nerd Division, like my uncle Seb calls it. He had a tourist trap there."

Phillip massaged his temples. Too many names. "And your uncles are…?"

"Oh, my dad's triplets. Stanford is the oldest and Seb is the youngest, though it's just by a few minutes! I don't get why they're so obsessed with knowing who's oldest!" Dillon shook his head "There's also my uncle Sherman, he's their youngest bro."

"...Your Dad's a  **triplet**?!"

-.-

After Dillon explained the wonders of having such a big family, he invited Phillip home. "I'll present you to my parents when they're back! My little brother will probably be home but he won't bother us~"

Aaron picked them up again and took them home. Phillip was, needless to say, simply amazed when they reached the huge building complex.

"WOAH!" Phillip gasped. "You live in one of those?!" Dillon patted his head. "Actually my dad kinda owns the building but we live in the penthouse."

Aaron opened the door for them and grinned at the shocked teen. Phillip looked at him wide-eyed and the driver nodded solemnly. "This way, sirs."

"He called me a sir!" The ginger boy squealed. Dillon cackled at how blown away his boyfriend was by all this. He felt him though. He felt the same when they first moved in.

Diego was with granny Kari, she only came by whenever both of Dillon's parents were busy. Carla didn't want to have Diego grow up without his father like Dillon did, but Kari loved doting on her grandson and would always insist on babysitting. Kari wished she could spend as much time with Seb's twins though. She didn't see them enough!

Phillip was too distracted admiring the fine decorations and the huge windows to notice the woman who received them. "Hi, Granny Kari!" Dillon smiled and hugged her. The woman smiled and kissed his cheek. "Hi, sweetie...And who is this distracted young man?"

"There's a chandelier!"

"He's Phillip…my-you know...boyfriend…" Dillon sent her a look and Kari understood. Her expression tensed up. "Dad told me not to bring boys into my room without his authorization first… Can you please not tell him?"

Kari stroked his freckled cheek. "Dillon, I'm his mother...I don't have to tell him ANYTHING." She grinned and Dillon grinned back. Oh, he loved her! "Thank you! We-We're just hanging out ok? Nothing is going to happen." Dillon assured her.

Kari coughed. Right. Well. "Go say hi to your little brother first. He missed you!" she told him instead. She was still wrapping her head around the news of Dillon's preferences. She wasn't sure how to feel about it. And she was SURE her former husband would have been LIVID to hear such news. Kari frowned. She still… part of her felt that boys liking boys wasn't right, but she could see how happy Dillon looked with this boy, how his hand would search out and gently hold onto the other boy.

She didn't understand this at all, but she understood that Dillon was happy. And… Kari had already seen enough unhappiness in her life, stood back in fear and allowed unhappiness to happen… so she wouldn't do anything to make Dillon unhappy. She had already failed Sebastian, failed her own son, she wouldn't fail her grandson too.

So Kari kissed Dillon's cheek and waved him and his (boy)friend off as they went up to Dillon's room.

"Are you liking this place so far?" Dillon grinned at Phillip, whose eyes were still very wide. "Dude, your house is amazing! Can I stay here forever?!" Phillip pleaded holding both his hands and pouted.

"You can stay with me forever~" Dillon pulled him close for a hug. Still no kiss. He really, really wanted to kiss him but it was too soon. "But Diego is a pain in the ass to live with, you wouldn't want to stay." As if on cue, Diego came out of his room where he had been playing with his toys, and slammed himself into his brother's legs. "Dillon!" The little toddler hugged his legs really tight, to express all his love and Phillip simply melted with love.

"OH god, your little brother is SO CUTE!" He shrieked. And so...not Dillon! They looked so different from each other!

"Yes, yes, hello to you too!" Dillon patted his curly dark hair. "Say hi to my boyfriend." He picked Diego up so he was face to face with Phillip. The ginger boy cooed.

"Hi, Dillon's boyfwiend. Do you kiss? Why do you kiss?! It's gwoss!" Diego said with a little baby frown. Phillip poked his cheek. "We don't kiss yet~ But it's not gross at all~ Dillon is so, so cute~"

Diego made a disgusted face and wiggled to be put down. "Ew. I'm going to pway now. And you can't pway! Because it's my game and yewll make it yucky!" He stuck his tongue out at his older brother and ran away laughing.

Dillon shook his head. He'd come back begging for Dillon to play with him in a few minutes! He took Phillip to his bedroom, and laughed again when Phillip gasped in amazement.  _'My boyfriend's rich!'_  He was still trying to process he was in the house of stars! He didn't realize Dillon's family was rich. It was kinda intimidating actually.

The younger teen smiled sheepishly, blushing now that they were alone, and said. "So...What do you want to do?"

"I don't know...What do rich people do…? Horseriding?" Phillip asked softly as if in a trance.

Dillon snorted. "Nah, I've never even touched a horse. My dad's rich, but we only got this place like… last year." He shrugged. "I didn't grow up rich. So all this is pretty new to me too."

"Oh...Is it because your dad was…" Phillip trailed off, realizing saying it must be too personal to mention casually. Dillon nodded though. "Yeah, when my dad and uncle were missing, I just lived with my mom in a regular house, with my granny, who is the one who received us downstairs." Phillip gasped, horrified when he realized he didn't say hi to her. "I'm a terrible guest…" Phillip ran a hand through his hair as he muttered to himself..

"My parents weren't rich growing up either, so as much as my dad brags, I'm sure he's still dealing with it too. He is a greedy old man, mind you, the only one who will be totally used to it is Diego!"

Phillip chuckled and sat down next to Dillon. The two laid down, snuggling to each other, and tried to brainstorm things couples could do. They didn't feel like watching a movie and while video games sounded tempting, it didn't scream 'special.'

"Maybe we should go bother Diego…" Dillon sighed. "I don't wanna stay here laying down all day! We'll start sweating and swim in our own sweat!"

Phillip laughed aloud. "That's not possible. And swimming in sweat sounds gross as fuck." And suddenly, Dillon had a brilliant idea.

"Pool. We can go to the pool!" Dillon put his hands over Phillips shoulders. Philip blinked. "Okay, one, you have a POOL?! Two, I don't have a swim suit."

Dillon had a very naughty thought before he shook it away. No. He promised. "Yes, we have a pool. And I could lend you a swimsuit." Phillip also had a very naughty thought, but decided to be quiet about it and accepted. Going to a pool inside a house seemed so cool!

Dillon let Phillip change in his room and he changed in the bathroom before leading Phillip to the pool, smiling widely. "Oh my god, we're going to a house pool!" Phillip squealed with excitement, but Dillon shushed him. "If Diego knows we are here, he will want to come too and ruin it!"

Phillip nodded. "Don't worry. I will be perfectly quie-OH MY GOD YOU'VE GOT A WATER SLIDE!"

Dillon slapped a hand on his face when he heard Diego come running down the hall to the pool room. "I WANNA GO SLIDE!" the toddler squealed. Dillon sent Phillip a dirty look when Diego appeared. "Grandma Kari! Take Diego away!" Dillon shouted. "I wanna stay!" Diego whined and Dillon argued back "No! Shoo!" And moments later, their granny appeared.

"What's going on here?"

"Dillon and boyfwiend-man will go to the pool and I wanna go too!" Diego explained raising his little hands to be picked up to be changed into his swimsuit.

"But we came first, I just want to hang out with Phillip! I can play with Diego any other day!" Dillon argued. Phillip felt guilty for drawing attention but he couldn't help but stare at the water. So cool~ He didn't understand sibling fights anyway, he was an only child.

Kari looked between her two grandsons before coming to a decision. "Alright, you can be together until I get Diego ready. He wants to play with you, and you shouldn't reject your little brother." She also wanted to keep Diego here so the teens couldn't do anything naughty.

Dillon massaged his temples as Kari took Diego's hand to go change him. Phillip scooted closer to him. "It's ok, I don't mind…" the ginger boy tucked some of Dillon's hair behind his ear.

Dillon was still pouting, clearly upset. "No, _I_  mind. I just wanted to spend some time with you and Diego ruined our chance to have a nice first kiss!" He complained angrily and sulked, hiding his head between his knees.

He felt Phillip stand up but he didn't look up. Suddenly, he was picked up and dragged into the pool. "No!" Dillon blurbled underwater.

He swam his way up and gasped for air while Phillip purposely stayed underwater much longer before surfacing. Dillon glared at him, "What was  _that_?!" Dillon tried to stay mad as he gazed at Phillip's face glistening with water droplets, the wetness making his ginger hair look much darker than normal. "I think any moment is a nice chance…" Phillip swam up and stroked Dillon's wet cheek with a thumb before gently rubbing his lip. "May I?" Dillon nodded quickly (eyes wide with a full body blush beginning to form) and, as he was being held by a tattooed arm, he shared his first kiss.

Now, Dillon could say he had never felt happier. He held Philip's head and tried to pull him closer. He didn't want this kiss to end. It unfortunately had to end when Diego came running towards them, but this time, wearing his dinosaur swim trunks.

To be fair, they had more time alone than Dillon expected to get from his grandma. And he guessed playing with his little brother wasn't all horrible, Phillip was happy playing with him (he really liked kids), he carried Diego on his shoulders, slid with him on the water slide or simply caught him in the water.

Dillon then came to a conclusion. Phillip was making points with the little brother so he had support when meeting his parents! He was a genius~

-.-

Kari didn't know what to think of Phillip. He was definitely handsome, though the heavy tattoos and piercings were a little questionable… She never understood why boys would do that, like when Sebastian pierced his ears as a teen. However, he was clearly a nice kid, Diego came back speaking wonders about him.

And he was a medical student. So he was also aiming for a good career with a well paying job, had a good head on his shoulders, intelligent and responsible with children. Which were all good points in his favor.

More importantly, Dillon was so happy with him… She didn't know how she felt about this, but she was sure glad this boy made her grandbaby so happy.

So Kari treated Phillip as if he was simply Dillon's good friend for now. She would… have to get used to this idea of boys dating boys not being a bad thing. Frankly, she didn't personally see how it could be a problem, the only thing holding her hack at this point was from how her parents and the community she grew up in always said that this was a sin.

It was the sort of thing where her first thought was 'This is bad'. This is much like how she'd reacted to Sebastian wanting to get his nails painted as a child. Back then she had stopped him quickly and told him that he couldn't do that. Not only because he was a boy and wearing nail polish or a skirt was something only girls were supposed to do, but because she'd been terrified of what the neighborhood would have thought about it. What Filbrick would have done about it.

Kari shook off this thought. She already decided that she would get away from that kind of thinking. Pretty clothing made Sebastian happy, and he deserved to be happy. Philip made Dillon happy, and he deserved to be happy too.

In the end, that was all that mattered.

So Kari sat with the boys and talked to them, chatting with them and getting to know Phillip. She wouldn't judge or reject. She would try her best to understand. And even if she couldn't, she would still support her grandson in every way she could.

Stan finally came home and was greeted with the sight of his kids and his Ma eating pizza. That was normal. What wasn't normal was the strange boy in the room with them, sitting right beside Dillon.

The strange boy with the tattoos and multiple piercings.

"Mommy!" Diego ran towards his mommy with a bit of pizza in his mouth. Carla picked him up, kissed his cheek and smiled down at Dillon and mysterious boy.

"Hello! You~ You must be Phillip, right?" She smiled politely.

Stan's scowl hardened.

Dillon stood up, holding Phillip's hand as the ginger boy shook with nerves. "Yeah. Mom, Dad, he's Phillip, my-my boyfriend." The curly haired boy smiled.

Stan fought against his instincts, but he failed terribly. His eye twitched and he glared at the sheepish teen. "H-Hi sir…" Phillip squeaked.

"Out."

Dillon glared at his scowling dad. "Dad!"

"Don't 'dad' me!" Stan said mockingly. "I told you NO BOYS HERE IN MY HOUSE!"

"But he's my boyfriend...We-We haven't done anything bad!" Dillon complained as he still held Phillip's hand reassuringly. "Ask Diego! Toddlers don't lie!"

Stan looked at Diego. "What did you brother do with this boy?"

"Phillip is the bestest in the wowld! He knows lots of games and he plays with me and doesn't call me squiwt or bug!" Diego defended the ginger boy and Dillon understood Phillip's technique.

Stan scoffed. "Still! No boys!" He pointed towards the door. Kari watched, unsure on when she should get involved, and Carla rolled her eyes. "You don't even know him, Stanny."

Dillon nodded. "And you said you needed to meet them first! You can't meet him if you don't get to know him! I brought him so you could meet him" He pointed out. Stan cursed mentally, dumb Seb teaching deals and bargaining and supporting your point in an argument to Dillon, and Stan reluctantly agreed. They all sat down for the interrogation.

"Full name, boy." Stan asked serious. Phillip shrunk back. A football star was angry at him for dating his son… "Phi-Phillip...Phillip Abbott, sir." He squeezed Dillon's hand.

"Where do you live?" Stan narrowed his eyes.

Phillip twitched. "Ah, I don't have to answer that, on account of my sense of privacy, but I can give you my parent's number if you want to call, and ask for our address from them, sir."

Carla nodded at that, it seemed logical, and she loved how his parents taught him that. She should use that one with Diego.

"What do your parents do?" Stan tacked on. He didn't like Phillip's answer, unlike Carla, and Phillip winced when he realized it. He took a deep breath.

"My dad's a surgeon and my mom is a psychologist…"

"Age." Stan snapped. This boy looked older than Dillon, which made all of Stan's protective instincts rear up.

"I'm 18-" Phillip winced at the look on Stan's face and added, sounding almost guilty, "A-and I-I'll be turning 19 soon…Mr. Pines, sir..." he admitted.

Stan blinked, shocked. "Excuse me? 19?! You know my son is 16?!"

"I just turned 17, Dad!" Dillon complained angrily, but Stan waved it off. "Yes, that!"

Phillip gulped. "Um...I-I know, we-we met at French class and-and that class is for people from 15 to 20…So, so I knew Dillon was somewhere around that...age…" He winced at the growl the man made.

"Are you being funny with me, boy?!"

"N-No! Definitely not, sir! I-I'm sorry…" Phillip bit his lower lip. Dillon held his arm again. "Leave him alone, dad! Can you stop attacking him?! He just answered your question!"

Diego puffed his cheeks, feeling everything was getting awkward and he pulled his granny's hand to go to his room. He was tired of hearing them fighting.

Carla patted Stan's tense muscled arms. "Stanley…" She warned him with an angry look. "Are you working or studying, Phillip?" She asked, hoping she sounded more warm and welcome than her husband-to be.

"I-I'm studying, actually...I-I'm a medical student…" Phillip now feared to say the wrong thing. Dillon intervened. "He also volunteers at a hospital every week to help the kids. He gets really good grades at college and finished 2nd in his class when he was in high school! Phillip a-also plays the guitar!"

"I only had a few lessons…" Phillip winced. "You're not helping yourself here, man." Dillon hissed.

"And what do you want from my son? What are your intentions with my boy?!" Stan asked, secretly a little impressed but refusing to let that sway him.

"I…" Phillip squeezed Dillon's hand. "I really like being with Dillon. I want to be his friend, and more. He's really cute, but more than that, he's patient with me when I fail at French, he listens to me talk about my studies and doesn't tell me to shut up… he's actually pretty good with the kids when he comes with me on my hospital visits…"

Stan narrowed his eyes. "So that's where you have been going these days?" He turned to look at Dillon before looking at Carla. "Can you believe it?! Your son has been going to a hospital instead of working on his homework! He's a bad influence." Stan declared, stubbornly.

"I'll let you know Phillip is VERY intelligent and helps me with my homework!" Dillon argued. Phillip looked down, feeling like this had been a pretty bad start with his (possible, future,) father-in law.

"Mrs. Pines, Mr. Pines, sir, I really like Dillon, I have never felt so happy with someone before. I just want to love him, get to know him even more, and I would never, ever do something to hurt him." Dillon smiled and hugged his arm. Carla smiled softly at how clearly in love they were and Stan simply growled.

"You better not! Because I have this!" He awkwardly searched into his pocket until he finally found his brass knuckles and waved his fist close to the ginger's face. "Tu comprends?" He hissed and Phillip paled a little. "Oui…"

Eventually, after assaulting the teen with more questions, Dillon had enough and called Aaron to take Phillip home. "Sorry about this. See you in class, Philly." Dillon intentionally pulled him in for a goodbye kiss, just to piss off his dad, who was definitely spying on him.

As soon as Phillip disappeared in the elevator, Dillon exploded. "I cant believe what you just did! What the fuck is wrong with you?! Couldn't you at least be nice?!" Dillon was so angry.

"I did say I was going to think about it!" Stan argued and Dillon screamed "AFTER YOU SCARED HIM! And treated him like some criminal!" The boy sniffled. "Why don't you like him?! You said you were ok with me dating!"

Stan sighed. "I'm sorry, ok! I just can't help it! I can't help but feel overprotective with you!"

"You just wish I wasn't dating a boy…Well, I'm sorry I'm SUCH a disappointment and I'm not a straight flirty sportsmen like you!" Dillon stormed to his room (now that his boyfriend was gone, he saw no point in staying with his family) and slammed the door shut, holding back tears.

Stan ran a hand through his hair and groaned. Carla shook her head and went to look for Diego. It was too late for him to be awake anyway…She would leave the both of them to cool down.

Stan needed to get some space, some distance to calm down. So he accompanied his Ma to her house, accepted her kiss, rolled his eyes at her, "Be nice to my grandbabies." and hung out for a little while before he was cooled enough to go back home.

Stan found Carla bathing Diego (he had been in the pool with Dillon and that Boy) so he went to their room and replied to some work emails until she finished her task of getting Diego ready for bed. Stan put on his reading glasses and leaned back as he worked.

"Stan~ Can you prepare Diego's milk?" Carla called from the bathroom so she could put their toddler to sleep faster, but Stan groaned. "Working, sweetie! Can't you do it, please?" he called down the hallway. Carla huffed in annoyance that Stan never helped with Diego when she was there. He was too grossed out by the diapers to change him when he was younger, and he was awful at preparing formula during the few times he actually bothered to help with that.

(Stanley was a very loving dad, but a very useless one as well. For some obvious reasons.)

He was still on the bed when Diego, bathed and wearing Pj's, came to say goodnight, and after Carla came back from tucking him in. She shook her head but didn't say anything. They talked about the places they went to see for the wedding planning, Carla really liked that salon with the yard, but Stan seemed distracted.

"I'm sorry, does our wedding bother you?" She put her hands on her hips and gave her fiance a narrow stare. Stan put down his glasses to rub his eyes. "I'm thinking about that boy ok? I don't like him...He's too old for Dillon."

"You're going to start with that? After upsetting Dillon with your stupidity." Carla managed to hold back from snapping at him. Stan huffed, shuffling deeper into his sheets. "Look, him being a boy is one thing, but he's like 19! That's almost 20! And Dillon is only 16!"

"He's 17, Stan." Carla deadpanned. Stan grumbled. "That's not the point." he folded his arms. "That boy is still too old for him."

"It's only two years, and I will be making sure the two don't do anything you and I did all the time at their age." Carla continued to deadpan. "And Phillip is turning 19. He's still only 18. Which is only one year of difference. Two at most with the birthdays being on different months." she rolled her eyes. "I agree that Phillip IS older. But as long as nothing happens between them until Dillon is 18, I don't see the problem." they were friends first and partners second, Carla could understand that, why couldn't Stan?

She also thought it was quite hypocritical of Stan to be forbidding Dillon from having sex at 16, considering Stan himself lost his virginity at a much younger age. Carla flushed a little just thinking about it. "It's double standards. If Dillon were dating an older girl, you wouldn't be so upset about it." she pointed out.

"It's different if it's a girl!" Stan protested.

"How? Because if Dillon were dating a girl we would have to worry about accidental pregnancies? And that's better than being with a boy?" Carla asked sarcastically. Stan huffed, "That's not what I-"

"Bullshit, Stan. You're just angry that Dillon's dating a boy." Carla nearly spat at him. "And I won't stand for it." she poked his chest. "Our big boy's in love. And I will not have you ruin this for him." she told him. "If Phillip does end up hurting Dillon, at least it'll be when Dillon is still living with us, so he'd be able to come to us about it. He wouldn't have to hurt all alone. But if you push him away like this, Dillon WON'T come to us about his problems anymore. And. I. Will. Not. Allow. That. To. Happen." She jabbed Stan's stomach with each word. "Do you understand me, Stanley Pines?"

Stan winced at each poke. "I'm not trying to-" he yelped when Carla poked his belly button (hey, it was sensitive okay?!) "I just don't want that older boy taking advantage of Dillon, okay?" He shivered. "I don't trust him."

"You only JUST met him." Carla rolled around on the bed and laid down further away from Stan, which made him wince. She was really mad this time.

"Babe…" "Good night." Stan groaned loudly and tried to wiggle closer to her. "Babe... _please_?" He tried grabbing her waist but she smacked his hands away. "Don't touch me. I'm angry with you!"

"...Carla? Come on, girl...I'm going to be sad all night."

"Good. Maybe you'll feel what your son is probably feeling." She curled up.

Stan fell asleep sad that night.

He searched for advice with his trusted triplet, who had known Stan's own son longer than he did. "You're being irrational man, the hell." Seb laughed after hearing Stan's complaining.

"But that boy-"

"Dillon loves him, Fez. Duh! You can't choose who you fall in love with, and listen to who is TELLING YOU THAT!" A former demon who used to love no one but himself. "He's just gay. Big deal. You know I like men too."

"But it's...different."

"You can't see me right now but I'm rolling my eye so much I think it's stuc-Ow! Ow! Its stuck!" Stan rolled his own eyes this time when Seb screamed. What an idiot.

"Ok, it's back to normal. As I was saying, that's bullshit. You feel it's different because you humans are weird and conditioned to think certain stuff, but you can unlearn that crap and see it as normal...Because Dillon's a great boy, I've known him since he was a baby, and he's gone through so much already and he deserves to be happy...He deserves a dad that is happy about who he is. And Dillon loves you too. Don't break that for him."

Stan sighed. "I want to be a good dad. I just don't know what to do."

The youngest triplet sighed. "I know you want to, I want to, and my kids are still learning to go to the bathroom on their own! Everyone-no, most people want to be good." Seb corrected himself and hummed. "Well, Linda used to tell me that apologizing helped. Have you apologized? To Dillon? To Phillip?" Seb pointed out. Stan groaned. Seb buried his face in his hands. "Stanley you fucking idiot! Go apologize to you son right now! Fuck!"

Stan felt so called out...So he switched brothers. This time, he called Shermie. That kid had kids when he was just a kid but he somehow managed to raise his adorable niblings, so he guessed Shermie did something right along the way.

Shermie wasn't dumb. When Stan said "Hey kid, so, what would you do if Dipper was gay?" he knew something was going on. He had a very good theory but decided to play along.

"Well...being gay is nothing wrong...I have a lot of gay friends!" Shermie shrugged. "And more than that, why should it matter? Dipper is his own person. He can do what he wants. Within reason."

"But...but if he was dating an OLDER guy? Wouldn't you be afraid that he only wants to take advantage of him?"

"To be honest, I feel that way with Mabel's boyfriends, but I can't really do much about it, man." Shermie shrugged. "I guess...I just gotta trust Mabel, she's old enough to choose who she wants to date...but well...she's also my baby, you know? I don't want her to get hurt and do grown up things that could end up making me a grandpa before I'm ready... With Mason it's different! He's a boy, you know? I mean, he should grow up already, you get what I mean?" He chuckled.

Stan hummed a bit, remembering Carla's words reflected in Shermie's words. Maybe he WAS treating Dillon like a girl...He was still a boy after all...And, well, dating a boy didn't take away the fact that he could still be masculine and a real man!

"Thanks, Shermie. Ya helped me more than Seb did."

(Because Seb was more liberal and made Stan feel called out and attacked while seeing himself in Shermie's own thoughts was easier for him to reconsider a few things)

"Of course I did! I'm more amazing and cooler than him!" Shermie bragged. "...Don't tell him I said that, he's going to smack me…" The youngest brother pleaded. Stan cackled.

So, with that thought in mind, Stan decided he would take Dillon out for a men's only night. Diego wasn't included because he was a toddler. His summer was ending anyway and they haven't done many father-son shit. So he took Dillon out to play basketball. That seemed like a very dad-son thing to do.

A few days after the fight, Dillon found himself very surprised that his DAD, Stanley freaking Pines, was apologizing to him. "I was a jerk…" He said with a sad expression. "I… don't know how to feel about… things." Stan wavered. "But I made you feel bad, and I hurt you. And I don't want to do that. I never want to hurt you. So I'm sorry."

Dillon smiled a bit and threw him the ball, which caught Stan off guard while he was distracted and hit him in the stomach. They were having a one-one basketball game. "It's ok Dad...I-I mean...It really hurt 'cause it looked like you were gonna kill my boyfriend-" Stan winced. "And...I didn't like how you were so unhappy to meet him...But you know? I get it...You, old people grew up in different times and many don't understand...I know you're trying to understand and I appreciate that a lot, because...you still love me, right…?"

"Of course I love you!" Stan cried immediately.

"-And I know you just want what's best for me, even if you don't understand what that is yet." Dillon rubbed his sweaty neck. Ugh. Damn dad's genes. He hated sweating.

Stan frowned. He stepped back from Dillon, as if he was walking away, but he stopped and before Dillon could think about what he was going to do, he threw the ball from the three-points line. And scored clean. "Who're you callin' old anyway? Can an old man do that!?" He complained and Dillon burst out laughing.

"Well, old man, we'll see if you still have it!" Dillon pulled off his sweaty shirt and threw it away. Stan smirked taking that as a challenge, and did the same, showing off his extremely hairy and sweaty chest. "Oh, you'll regret that, boy!"

The two played together, throwing the ball around and punching each other, all while laughing. Dillon was so happy his dad apologized; it was a start. Dillon was hoping dad would be able to accept all of him with time...

-.-

Seb finished clearing the toddlers' faces after lunch, helped them brush their little pointy teeth, and just then set them free to go play (or nap, whatever happened first). Wanda was working on a paper so he didn't want to bother her by asking her to help, but right now, he wanted cuddles.

The blonde laughed as Seb curled up like a cat, basically on her lap. "Twins are clean now." He informed her and hummed happily as his hair was stroked. "What would I do without you~?" Wanda grinned as she finger combed his soft hair.

"I love the twins, you know? A lot." He said seriously and Wanda nodded absentmindedly. "I love them too…You're a very good dad to them." For a former demon chaos god, Seb had a lot of love to give to his family.

"What do you think about trying to have another kid?" He asked, half curious, half serious, but Wanda jerked away from him as if he burnt her. He even checked if his fire hadn't somehow snuck out. Wanda shivered a little, unable to help the flash of fear at the memory of that horrible burning inside her. "N-nah, we already have two. We don't…"

"Wanda?" Seb was worried now, getting up and growing scared at the way she was trembling. "Wanda? Are you okay?" He was starting to get panicked himself. "I-if you don't want another kid, that's fine too. I mean, Shermie's only got two and he's fine with that. An-and…"

"No. It's…" Wanda hugged herself. "It's not like I don't want more kids. But I can't… can't go through that again. It was terrifying. I thought I was going to die. I thought the twins were going to-" she winced. "If we have more kids, there's a chance they'd get your powers too. And I just… can't do that. Not again. Never again…" She whispered that last part and absently touched the faint scar on her belly. Sebastian winced at this. "I'm sorry." He said quickly. Wanda shook her head. "No, it's not your-"

"It IS my fault though!" Seb leaned his head against her shoulder. "I'm sorry. Forget I said anything. I shouldn't- you shouldn't have to go through that again. Shit… it must have been so scary…" It'd certainly been scary for him, and he wasn't the one burning from the inside out.

Wanda winced. "It's NOT your fault. Don't ever say that. It's neither of our faults. Sometimes… things just… happen." She kissed his forehead. "And, I'm still glad I had the twins. I've never realized I wanted kids before. And now that I have them, I wouldn't trade them for anything." She felt Seb smile against her and lean up to kiss her back. "Alright. So, no more kids then?" he asked quietly.

Wanda considered it. "Well, no more pregnancies… but… you know… adoption is always a thing." She pointed out. Seb blinked. "Adoption? But…" it wouldn't be his kid… but… Seb paused. "That…" a child not by blood, but who would still be family…

And, Seb felt his eye begin to tear up as he remembered someone that he'd always wanted to have as his family. Someone he'd wished could have… maybe… adopted him…

Matsuda. His father in all the ways that really mattered.

"I-I get it...We could love a kid as we love the twins…" He rubbed his eye to get rid of the tears. Someone who was hurting, who lost their family...they could take care of them because their actual parents couldn't...

Wanda smiled as she got more into this idea. "You know, I… maybe when the twins are older… I… wouldn't mind getting another kid. Though adoption is a huge thing, we would have to get to know the kid, can't just pick and choose some random kid after all." She tried to joke, but her heart fluttered at the idea of having another child. A brother or sister for the twins. That… would be nice. They would need a bigger house though.

Her smile decreased when Seb failed to get rid of his tears. "Baby? Why are you crying now? Please don't cry…" She pulled him for a hug, and because those words always worked on distressed people, the man just sobbed harder.

"My-My...He-He loved me and-and I was so ungrateful and-and-!" Seb angrily rubbed his nose. "Matsuda…He-He...I'm sorry…"

"Who's Matsuda?" She asked softly and Seb clenched his eyes tighter, realizing he hasn't talked about him till now. "He-He was like a dad to me...and-and he called me son...and-and he wasn't  _disgusted_  by me calling him Dad!...He-He actually loved me...he treated me so nice, he gave me food, he taught me how to-to sew...And I still don't deserve him...I haven't visited him...in ages…" Seb sighed defeatedly.

Wanda rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. "Would you like to visit him?" She wasn't sure if Seb had told her about this important man in his life. Maybe he did, when they were teens? But she either doesn't remember it or she didn't listen enough. She was dumb when she was a kid, but she was a woman now, and she cared too much about her soon to be husband.

Seb nodded and sniffled. "It's been decades since I visited his grave…"

"Oh." Wanda sighed. She hugged Seb to herself. "Do you wanna take some time to go and visit him?"

"...yeah."

"I'll book a flight." Wanda had a few cases she'd been wanting to tackle, but she could hand them off to a coworker. This was more important.

-.-

"Awe we visitin' Uncle Fez?" Zully munched the donut daddy bought them as Mommy carried them across the airport.

"No." Wanda said. "Then Uncle Sixeh?" Zully asked next.

"No, sweetie, were going to New Jersey, not New York or Oregon, and we're visiting someone else." Wanda rubbed their hair and Zully yawned before snuggling, donut finished. It was late, they were tired. Zoe had fallen asleep after asking to hug a pilot walking by the departure gate.

It was so adorable Wanda had taken a photo.

They boarded the plane, adjusted the twins in the seats next to them (they had to buy them their own seats now) and a few hours later, around 8pm, they arrived at Seb's hometown.

The twins woke up just in time when the plane landed and started sobbing when their little ears popped. Zoe liked planes, but she didn't like to get ouchies from planes! Seb and Wanda carried their sobbing babies, and most people were actually kind enough to send pitying looks. They were small after all, and they didn't understand why their ears pop.

The little twins quickly forgot about it though, especially when they had a chicken sandwich with fries for dinner in the hotel. They settled in their hotel room, which had a queen sized bed and a smaller bed they were supposed to share. Zoe was excited for this unusual trip and was jumping up and down on the bed as Zully tried to sleep.

"Zoe…" Wanda warned her. The toddler stopped jumping and quickly got under the covers. She hugged her sister tightly and squeezed them. "Ooww!" Zully whined loudly.

"Zoe!" Seb warned this time. "No bothering your twin. It's late." He went over to separate them and tucked them in, cursing the hotel staff for saying they couldn't bring 2 small beds!

As Seb and Wanda were taking off their clothes to get in bed, Zully started complaining again. "OW! Daddy! Zoe's kicking me!" "Not twue!" The girl complained and continued kicking her twin. "DADDY!" Zully shrieked and turned their head to bite Zoe's arm, which made Zoe scream.

"Quit it or I'll tear your leg off, Zoe!" Seb growled, knowing she started it. Zoe huffed, she didn't want to lose a leg, and settled down. The parents let out a relieved sigh when they heard the twins had finally fallen asleep.

"Oof. Finally." Wanda sighed and snuggled closer to her pillow, who was Seb. He sighed as well, but for a different reason. "Why have I been pushing this back for so long?" He whispered. "I haven't thought of him until yesterday and...he was one of the few people who cared for me, you know? I feel...bad!" He hissed. Damn incomprensible emotions. It made him feel guilty, horrible, ungrateful, and so sad! He wouldn't care if it was another person…

But Matsuda was his dad…

Wanda kissed his neck gently. "I'm sure he'd understand ...You were a child, you were scared, and you had no one before...You needed help. And you had to bring your brothers back."

"But I should have go, I was so selfish…" Just...like when he didn't visit him because of his stupid project...and because he wasn't there, Matsuda died alone, Seb never knew he was sick because he only thought about himself. He'd never been able to forgive himself for that… for leaving Matsuda all alone in his final days…

Wanda winced when she heard Seb started sobbing again. "Here. Cry here." She wasn't going to be able to stop him, he clearly had some feelings he needed to work out. So Wanda pulled Seb under the covers and buried his face in her chest to muffle his crying. Didn't want the twins waking up again. She stroked his hair and let him wear himself down and fall asleep. She stared at the ceiling and wished there was something more she could do for him. But all she could do at this point was be there for him. This was something Seb was going to need time for.

They woke up early. The twins were still half asleep as their parents carried them around town. Wanda said they needed flowers. Seb worried that he wouldn't be able to find Matsuda's grave. The twins still weren't sure what was going on. Wanda didn't know how to explain this to them. Nor did she really want to. They were only three years old. They weren't ready to learn about death.

"I want to choose!" Zoe made grabby hands towards the flowers. Seb nodded and allowed her to pick the colors. He was taking a lot of them anyway. Zully didn't pick because the child didn't care about flowers.

Once there, it took 2 workers and a call to the administration to find the tombstone. "Oh yeah, not really one of our oldest tombs, I was wondering when the guy was getting a visitor."

Seb deadpanned at him. "Thank you." He said as he lowered Zully and put them on their feet. The kids looked around. This was so pretty! It had flowers and balloons and trees and bushes! Was this a park?! Before Wanda could stop them, the excited twins ran away.

Seb wasn't paying attention to them, though. The passive aggressive worker was right. The tombstone was only decent because it was required, but it was still dirty and no flowers...Had been for decades…

Seb knelt on the grass and bowed in silence, head on the ground, ashamed to be here so late. Wanda knelt next to him and lowered her head in respect. Silently, Seb grabbed the big bottle of water they brought and he started cleaning the tombstone with his hand and sleeve until he could clearly read Matsuda's name.

He put the flowers in the space and sighed. "Matsuda…"

"Zoe, what the-STOP!" Wanda cried embarrassed as she saw Zoe jumping over different tombstones, and Zully was pulling other tombstones' flowers. "That's disrespectful!" She cried as she gathered up her children and carried them back over to where Seb was kneeling. Zully blinked. "What's dis-wespech-full?"

"It means you're being mean to the other people who are here." Wanda explained. "Those other graves belong to other people, other families. You can't take their flowers or jump on them." The twins nodded, not really getting it, but not wanting to be in trouble.

"What's a gwave?" Zoe asked. All she saw were tall flat rocks. "A grave is where the dead are buried. It's a place where the dead person's family or friends can go to visit them and mourn or remember them."

She sat them down, but Zoe stood up and threw herself on daddy's back. "And what's dead?"

Wanda wasn't sure how to explain, but Seb looked up at Zoe and simply said "It means you're gone, forever. When someone dies we can't see them anymore."

Zoe didn't like this, and Zully was already pouting. "Gone fowevah? How long is fowevah? 4 years?"

"No. Forever. Forever is all times. Years and years and never again. We come here to remember them and talk to them, because humans mourn for their dead, but we can't actually...talk to them…" Seb looked down. "My father Matsuda, your grandpa, died a long time ago… I miss him."

The twins gasped, feeling how sad Daddy was feeling, and hugged him tight to get rid of the nasty sensation. "So, you'we mowning your dad?" Zoe asked, trying to understand. She guessed mowning was like talking to dead?

Seb smiled them back. "Yeah...We're here to remember my dad, who isn't here with us, but...I'm sure he would have loved to meet you two…" He poked their noses and they giggled.

"So, he's also a grandpa? Like grandpa Elijah?" Zoe asked with a gasp. 2 grandpas! You could have more than one?! This blew her little mind.

Seb felt a clenching sensation in his chest. Grandpa...He never got to meet the twins...He would've been such a spoiling grandpa… "Yes, he's also your grandpa."

"So, if he is not hewe, he's living down there?" Zully asked, still confused and not understanding such a concept. Wanda ran a hand through their hair. "No, baby. He's not actually there, we just come here to remember him, but we can't actually see him anymore."

"Buh why not? Whewe's he then?" The oldest twin asked, lip wobbling. Wanda sighed. "He's in heaven, we can't go there but we can talk and he will listen to us, because he's hearing and watching us from there."

Zully nodded slowly, understanding a little better. They were still upset they'd never see their grandpa though…

"What's granpa's name?" Zully asked, feeling a little uneasy at the idea of someone going away… and how you couldn't see them again… weren't _allowed_ to see them again… it made their chest hurt and they didn't understand why. Zoe asked too. "There's Grandpa Elijah, and grandpa…" she looked down at the rock that daddy was kneeling in front of.

"What do that say?" She asked. Seb smiled as he wiped his eye. "Seiya Matsuda. So… grandpa Seiya."

Zoe sat on daddy's legs. "Hi, grandpa, Sei-Sei-ya. I'm Zoe, I'm twee!" She proudly showed 3 fingers. Wanda smiled a bit. "I have powews!" She shared. "And I take cawe of daddy becus you awent hewe. But that's ok." She told the rock. "I want to meet you, but mommy say I can't, but that's ok too because I know you were a good daddy to daddy, because he's the bestest daddy in the wowld! Even if he's weiwd."

Seb rolled his eye but smiled anyway.

Zully nodded. "I'm Zully, I'm twee too!" They introduced themselves. "I-I would have liked to hug you, like I hug my other granpa, but I'll send a mind hug!" Zully hugged themselves, which made Wanda coo a bit.

"Yeah...um, sorry for not coming sooner, Matsuda…" Seb said softly as he hugged the twins when they snuggled closer to him. "I...I was so scared before and...I felt so sad and guilty...But I got the help I needed you know? About time…" He chuckled softly. "I-I'm doing fine now...Thanks for everything you taught me…I-I studied and opened up a store that-that is doing really well…" He smiled tearfully. "I-I wish you could see it...You'd roll your eyes at my stitches though, even after all these years, you'd still say the technique I invented is silly…" He laughed a bit, and wiped a tear.

"I-I'm getting married too...with the greatest human on earth-" Wanda blushed a bit. "I-I wish you could be here…"

The twins got bored of sitting down and Seb asked Wanda to take them for a walk so he could have a moment alone. When his family was gone, he looked back at the grave and he could finally start sobbing freely.

"I wish you were my real dad, Matsuda...but, you're the best dad I've had in both of my lives. And you were the only dad that mattered. Thank you."

-.-

Despite how it hurt, Seb felt much better after visiting Matsuda. He would come more times, he promised. They eventually left, emotionally drained out but with a weight lifted off his shoulders.

It was so weird being in New Jersey again, he hadn't stepped a foot in town since he was 17. It definitely changed, it was more modern and most of the buildings were new. Of course there were parts still trapped in the 70s and the family was walking through those parts. Seb had wanted to see Matsuda's old house, and the family who was now living there was kind enough to invite him over with a smile. "Oh, it's lovely to meet the family who lived here before!" The woman said, giving more cookies to the twins.

Then, the twins claimed they were hungry and mere cookies wouldn't be enough for those ravenous little gremlins, so they walked away to find some local place to eat. However, either by pure muscle memory, or his unconsciousness messing with Seb, he walked straight for around a mile, turned right, straight, left…

Lead Paint District.

Zoe, who was looking at everything around her with the excitement of any toddler, suddenly noticed a pretty store with many, many toys! "Mommy! Mommy! Look! A guitah!" She pulled at Wanda's hand with all her might, and because Wanda was unable to control a toddler with that amount of strength, Zoe laughed and ran into the store, managing to drag her twin along the way.

Seb froze in the entrance when Wanda groaned and went after the twins, not knowing any better. "Zoe!" Seb looked up at Pines Pawn and felt himself trembling a little. He was standing just where Filbrick threw him out years ago. He looked up at the building. It looked old, of course that old stingy bastard wouldn't spend money on fixing it. The psychic sign on the window was also taken out…He wondered if Filbrick suffered when mom left him. Seb hoped he did, but he doubted it, that human was like a rock.

Seb also found himself unable to get any closer. He stood there, trembling at the doorstep. He took a step back, then another, and found himself ducking out of the view of the front windows. He couldn't go in there. He… just… couldn't. He trembled. Wanda and the twins were in there- his hands shook but he still couldn't get any closer to the door. He was worried that Filbrick might… might hurt his family… but apparently he was still a coward, still unable to actually confront his birth father.

"Hot belgian waffles…" He mumbled. He looked to his left, and to his surprise, the old waffles store was still there. Huh! He could use a snack. He sent one last shaky look at the pawn shop and quickly made his way to the restaurant. Wanda was going to be fine, and the twins too. She didn't know that man was Filbrick, she had never seen him, and Filbrick didn't know her. It was going to be fine. Filbrick was always nice to customers...

Wanda entered the pawn shop, the little bell ringing as she pushed the door open and caught the twins' hands before they could break something.

Because they were Seb's kids. Disaster was part of them.

"You can't run off from us like that, don't do that!" She scolded the twins as she shook them a little by their arms. "But...I saw a guitah, and I want a guitah…You said I could leawn…" Zoe looked down to the floor, kicked puppy eyes and sad look on her face.

"Well, now I'm doubting it." Wanda shook her head and looked up at the owner, who was sitting behind the counter looking at them. She couldn't tell if it was with anger or curiosity, he was wearing dark glasses inside the store. Huh. Weird. "I'm sorry for that, sir...You know how kids are." She tried to joke. The man merely nodded. "Yes, children are a handful at times." he didn't move much, sitting tall and formal. "Feel free to look around, but if they break anything, you'll have to buy it." He tilted his head slightly to look at Zoe. "So she wants a guitar? We have a few, quite old but well maintained. I keep up their quality with constant cleaning and tuning."

"Oh, that's amazing, sir." Wanda said politely. "I think we can look for a bit, but she's just three, I don't think she could learn with regulars guitars, aren't they too big for her?"

The man shrugged in a polite form. "I'm no expert. It's up to you, I can only help you choose the best." He explained and Wanda nodded. Alright, seemed fair. She held on the twins' hands as tight as she could, because she seriously didn't want to pay for something they broke. There were creepy old dolls (Zoe wanted those), the guitars in exhibition (Zoe also wanted those), old fashioned car and train toys and antique teacup sets (Zoe and Zully wanted those). They just wanted everything.

"You aren't from here." The old man spoke up from the counter once again, voice deep and professional. Wanda shook her head. "No, we're from Pennsylvania, we came for my~ husband, he had some issues to solve here, he's…" Where was Seb anyway? "I think he stayed outside." she was a little confused about that, but didn't think much of it. "We were actually looking for food when the kids wanted to come in."

"Ah. Well then, your husband is most likely getting some waffles from next door. They have very delicious freshly made ones."

"WAFFLES!" Zoe screamed. She loved waffles! The old man twitched a little at the loud sound. Wanda winced and shushed Zoe. "No screaming while indoors, it's rude to everyone else." She told her.

"Mommy, can I get a twain?!" Zully pulled at her hand as Zoe whined for waffles now. She wanted a guitar, but she remembered she was very hungry too! Wanda seemed like she was going to explode. She usually didn't deal with the kids alone. Seb was always with her, he knew how to handle them. "Sweetie, do you want to get food first, or look around the store first?" She asked Zoe. The girl couldn't make up her mind and just whined, pulling on Wanda's hand. Zully for their part, patiently waited for Zoe to finish so they could ask mommy about the car toy they wanted. It was so cool. Trains were cool. Things with 'wheels' were cool. They made things go fast! They were circles that could be used together with a bunch of squares to make something new!

Zoe whined harder. Wanda sighed. "Okay, you know what? We're going to get food first." She tugged the twins gently back towards the door. "Sorry sir, but she's going to be fussy unless I get some food for her."

The old man nodded. "Understandable, though you should discipline them better."

Wanda twitched. "I'll… keep that in mind." She didn't really like his tone, even though he wasn't being outright rude or confrontational. She quickly took the kids and left.

As the man guessed, Seb was next door, stuffing his mouth with waffles and ice cream. He was also pouting for being left alone. The people working in the store didn't seem to recognize him as their neighbor's kid (the one who was always screaming in pain), so he wasn't bothered.

Wanda noticed Seb also had other waffles with ice cream and even some chicken and waffle sandwiches. "I see you got lunch for all of us." Wanda made her way over. The twins were cheering at the food.

"I wanted to be selfish and just order for me, but well, I don't leave my men behind." He narrowed his eye and Wanda sighed. "We're sorry, we took more time than expected, but we're here now~!" She sat the twins down and kissed Seb's wrinkled nose. "The twins liked some things next door."

"Uh huh…" Seb said absentmindedly as the twins stuffed their mouths with food.

"Maybe we could buy them something? As a souvenir from New Jersey?" She suggested.

"Yeah, sure, if they want." Seb said non-committedly. Wanda sighed. "What's wrong, baby? Are you still feeling down?" She rubbed Seb's hand. Her fiance sighed. "It's just… that…" He grimaced. "I can't go in there. I can't… face  _him_."

Wanda wasn't stupid, she only took a few seconds to put together what was going on here. "T-that man is your-" Seb shushed her. "He- don't talk about him. I don't… I don't, can't deal with this right now."

Wanda frowned a bit, and whispered. "W-Why didn't you tell me? We could have taken the kids somewhere else, I didn't know…" Seb sighed. "I know you didn't, that's why I didn't bother, and it's not fair that we have to stop the kids from looking around just because of me." He took more ice cream to his mouth and Wanda pursed her lips in thought. "I'm sorry…" She finally said. She didn't mean to make Seb feel upset. The man smiled and rubbed her hand. "Hey. It's ok. We finish eating, I wait here, you go buy the twins their toys-"(the twins were babbling about their toys as they ate) "-as much as he was an asshole, he takes his business very seriously, and I know they'll be in great condition, and then we go to the hotel, deal? But don't tell him about me.  _Please_." Sebastian looked at her seriously.

Wanda worried about how her face looked when she went back to the pawnshop with the twins. Their kids didn't know any better, and she was trying to remain as calm as possible, ("This is like a case, a court, keep with the diplomacy, be professional.") she kept repeating to herself, but this man tortured her boyfriend throughout his entire childhood…

And he had the  _balls_  to tell her how to deal with her children?!

He should be in  _prison_!

"Oh, you came back. Are you going to get anything now?" The old man, that Wanda now knew to be Filbrick Pines, asked. Wanda gave him a polite smile and nodded, even as she held her children's hands close to herself.

"Yeah! We want our twain!" Zoe answered the question of the old man, because that was a polite thing to do. "And teacups, becuz is fun to pway!" She explained. Wanda tried hard to stay calm.

"We want that one!" Zully pointed up to a shelf with a free hand. "It's blue and bwown! I love blue!"

Filbrick nodded politely and stood up to get the stuff for the customers. When he walked closer to the three, Wanda moved out of the way, pulling the twins a bit too hard. Zoe stumbled but luckily didn't fall. "Do be careful." Filbrick grunted. "Wouldn't want to break anything." Wanda nodded, wishing she wasn't so nervous.

"So… why you gots so much stuff?" Zoe asked, ever curious and uncaring of holding back that curiosity. Filbrick 'hmph'ed and responded "It's my job."

"And why you weah glasses? Thewe's no sun! You weah them ALLLL the time?" Zully asked. It was something that had bothered them since they entered the store.

"Zully~ don't bother him with silly questions…" Wanda warned and Zoe spoke up, not caring a single bit. "Maybe you wanna hide them? Like daddy, he hides his eye with an eye pash!" Filbrick looked back at the three of them and Wanda felt her blood run cold. "He-he-he los-um-hurt his eye just a bit ago, and he needed...needed to cover it to-to heal it…" She quickly explained, feeling nervous and clumsy with her words, something that never happened to her. Filbrick turned back to the shelf and Wanda relaxed. Whew. Safe.

Filbrick pulled down the trains and held it out to Wanda. "Be careful with it. Unless you're going to buy it."

"Ye-Yes, we will, um, let's just pay…" Wanda stared at the box and then at the twins. Like hell she was letting them go inside the enemy's place. "Can you please take it to the counter? I don't really want to let go of the twins…" Filbrick rolled his eyes behind his glasses, not that Wanda knew, but he agreed and took it to the counter.

Wanda's efforts were useless though, because the toddlers let go when she pulled out her wallet, and they walked around to look at more things. "Be careful." Filbrick warned them sternly. Zoe giggled and sat down on the floor next to her mommy, close to the counter. She saw some markings, as if it was carved. "Look, mommy, what do it say?!"

Wanda handed the money to Filbrick, shakily, and then bent over to look at it. It said 'STAN' with the N backwards… Oh… "Don't touch it sweetie, you might get splinters." Wanda warned, hoping the twins didn't cause any trouble. She just wanted to leave. Zully was looking at the glass cases. It almost looked like this one broke and got repaired badly. Zully remembered daddy telling them to never touch broken glass, so Zully, like a good child, didn't touch it. "It broke!" They still said aloud, though, because that was what toddlers did.

"A long time ago…" Filbrick finally gave Wanda her change back. He sighed. "My sons...they had been messing around here when they were children."

"Oh~ You have sons?" Zoe asked. "Whatwe dere names? How many sons you have? My uncwles all togetewer got...one...two..." As the toddler counted, Wanda smiled nervously, grabbed the bag, then the twins and pulled them to the door. "Thank you. I hope your sons are doing  _fine_." She said before getting out of the store. She could finally breathe when she was outside.

"Mommy?" Zully looked up at her. Wanda sighed. "Sorry baby, I just didn't really… want to talk to that man very much."

"Why?" Zoe piped up. Wanda wasn't sure how to explain it. "He makes your daddy unhappy. And that makes me unhappy." she finally said. The twins didn't understand, but they saw daddy waiting for them and ran over to hug his legs. If daddy was unhappy, then it was their job to hug him until it gets better!

"Ah hah! There you are! Did you get your toys?" He picked them up and the four of them started walking away, leaving the Pines Pawn very far from them. "Yeah! Wan' see?" Zully offered but Seb shook his head. "Once we're in the hotel, ok? We can all play there." The little twins cheered, not really knowing they had visited both their grandfathers that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're delaying the wedding because we want you to suffer and create suspense haha
> 
> BUT MY GAY BABIES ARE SO HAPPY TOGETHER! AAAHHH!
> 
> Please comment! We love hearing what you think! :3


	15. Chapter 14: Fulfilling the most disgusting human traditions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blue: Hello! New chapter, fluff and funny!

The internship at the "Mystery Shack" research center (Ford had resigned himself to the fact that no one would call it by its real name) continued for the rest of the summer, and the excitement of having interns was dying down. Viola and Tyler realized the scientists were using them to print papers, get coffee, send messages, more coffee… Only Dr. Pines and McGucket took them kinda serious and taught them stuff.

They had been trying to ignore the weird incident where they almost died! And they prefered not to tell anyone about it. It was better that way. Tyler never ventured into the woods again, always calling for someone to drive him into town. Viola only went into the edge of the woods. She never allowed the treeline to cover up where she could see outside. It was too scary otherwise. Dr. McGucket was very understanding (and sympathetic, considering his own run ins with monsters in the woods) and took it upon himself to escort the children to and from the Center whenever they had to go into town. Aside from that, everyone treated that scary incident as if nothing had happened.

However, Stanford never stopped thinking about Bill. He tried to make it so it didn't affect him, but it was getting hard. After seeing that statue, the poor man couldn't stop thinking about the demon that tortured him.

Stanford was scared. He felt like he could go back to where he had been at any moment. He didn't want to sink back into paranoia and fear again. He had struggled a lot to overcome his PTSD, he just couldn't throw away all his progress!

He talked to Ashton again, worried after waking up from a gruesome nightmare. Ashton was glad Ford recognized he needed help before it was too late and after scheduling a few sessions, he asked Ford if he wished to restart his medicine treatment. After the 12 months of treatment, Ford had been feeling good enough to wean himself off them, because he didn't need it, but seeing how effective they had been on decreasing his symptoms, Ford accepted.

The dose was much lesser, Ashton didn't want to deal with addiction later! The really important thing was the therapy, not using medication to solve all his problems (though it certainly helped). Ford knew this clearly, that's why he trusted Ashton on the recommended dosage. He didn't want to have further issues.

The only problem was that SOMEHOW Viola found out about this. Fiddleford denied everything, but Ford was sure that his friend let something slip, accidentally? MAYBE! But he did!

So, after admitting to his intern what she already heard, Viola promised to keep quiet. She also volunteered to remind him to take his medication, as the pills had different hours than before.

Ford appreciated Ms. Se's help, and admired her...perseverance… but...

He had been working in his lab. His phone on the table and he was mixing up a substance for an idea he had.

BBBBZZZZZZ

He almost jumped out of his skin when his phone buzzed. Ford picked it up. "Hello?"

"Time to take your pill, doc!" Viola's happy voice was heard.

"Alright." He hung up and looked for the little bottle. He put it on the table but before he could do anything else, his phone buzzed again.

BBBZZZZ

"Remember not to take anything else!"

"I know." Ford rolled his eyes and hung up. He reached for the bottle and-

BBBBZZZZ

"You're working with chemicals!"

"I know, Viola! Listen, I have my pills here ok? Will you let me take them?!" He exclaimed and Viola agreed and hung up. Ford opened the lid and was about to take one pill out when-

BBBBBZZZZZ

Ford jumped and the pills spilled everywhere. "WHat?!"

"With plenty of water!"

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and grabbed his phone. "...Thank you…"

-.-

Fiddleford had noticed that their interns weren't very friendly to each other since day one (and he'd thought it was just some normal bickering between children), but now, the rivalry and hate was getting out of hand. He wasn't surprised Ford hadn't noticed (he was oblivious to these things), but neither had the other scientists, because they simply didn't care, too busy with their own projects to really pay attention to the interns. Tyler was very condescending towards Viola, he interrupted her and spoke for her. The blond man didn't like his attitude and once called him to his lab for a talk.

"I'm not happy with your attitude." Fiddleford told Tyler straight out. Tyler paled. "W-what do you mean, sir?" He didn't want to lose his internship from upsetting one of the owners."Was-Was I too loud when commenting and asking questions to you and Dr. Pines? And, maybe I-I complain a little bit when other scientists, great scientists, ask me to bring them coffee, but that's only because I feel I could be learning so much more from you…" Tyler tucked his metaphorical tail between his legs, sucking in his pride.

"It's not that." Fiddleford gave Tyler a stern stare. "We try to be a supportive environment, encouraging all of our workers to pursue whatever they're passionate about. People work better when they're happy after all." Tyler was confused. "What do you…"

"Why do you treat Miss Se like this?" Fiddleford asked. "You go out of your way to put her down and insult her. You purposely go around trying to make her miserable. Why? Are you attempting to sabotage her?" He glared. "Because we don't take kindly to people sabotaging others."

Tyler's eyes widened. "N-No! Of-Of course not, Dr. McGucket…" He looked down. "I-I'm not doing such a thing, why-why would you say that?" He mumbled. He didn't like to be called out like this. No one had done it before. Fiddleford didn't drop his stern glare. "Because I ain't blind. I've seen the way you treat her. We're all partners here, we're a team, and we work together. I don't like bullies and certainly not a bully trying to ruin someone else's career. So please, do us all a favour and behave like a professional, know where you're working at." Fiddleford raised an eyebrow. "And most importantly, behave like a man, because if you're going to be a child, then I don't think you should be doing an internship here. Is that clear?"

Tyler gritted his teeth and his fists. "Yes, Dr. McGucket…" He walked away, fuming. Stupid Fiddleford, telling him what he could and couldn't do! He wasn't a child! How DARE HE! He BET Viola went off crying to him! She was a  **bitch**! He was going to teach her for being a snitch!

-.-

Viola couldn't take it anymore. She was done. She was tired of the daily harassment she had to endure just to have a decent day of work. Lately Tyler had gotten… worse. If that was even possible. He was sickeningly nice, it was so condescending. And creepy.

She was tired of it. She couldn't do it anymore. She wanted to go home. Tyler had been harassing her all these weeks and he treated her like trash. She wiped her tears as she walked towards Dr. Pines' lab, hugging herself. She just couldn't take it anymore. She had to talk to him. She wasn't strong enough to bear the insults, being called a useless idiotic bitch all the time…

"D-doctor Pines?" Viola tried very hard not to let her voice tremble. She didn't want to break down crying in front of the man she admired.

"Yes? Viola, come in." Ford let her come in and looked down at his notes. "I thought this was your day off?" Viola looked down at her hands.

"I-I want to quit the internship, Dr. Pines…"

Ford paused and looked up. "Why? Are we not providing you enough opportunities to learn or work experience?" he asked, a little worried. "Is the internship unsatisfactory in some way? If so, please tell me so that I may make the necessary changes." He really wanted the center to be the best after all.

Viola looked down and shook her head. "No, Dr. Pines… The experience I've gotten in the center was the best I've ever had… It was so enriching and...I've learned so much but-but I can't stay here… I-I know my school isn't like West Tech, I-I'm not worthy to stay here… I've been told so."

Ford blinked before taking a deep breathe. "Viola...I won't stop you if you really want to leave...but I can assure you that you are  **more**  than worthy." Ford stood up. "You are very intelligent and your worth is not determined by other people, especially not ones that mean you ill." Viola looked up, with tears in her eyes.

Ford walked over to the intercom device. "D-Dr. Pines? What are you doing?"

Ford was so annoyed. Viola was intelligent and sweet. Energetic as well. She reminded him of his oldest niece, and he wouldn't allow this behavior in his center. He didn't like bullies.

"Attention everyone, come to my lab immediately. If you have sensitive projects, please get to the point where you can leave it alone safely."

Violas eyes widened. No! No! She was going to look like a snitch! "No! Please, Dr. Pines!" She pleaded, feeling like she was going to cry.

Ford looked at her with a softer look. "You should have told me sooner that you were being harrassed. We don't tolerate this behavior in the center." Viola waited there, unable to move, until the door to Ford's lab opened and confused scientists and workers began to file in. She was too scared to stand there and ran to hide behind one of the workbenches.

"Sir? What's this about?" A scientist asked, scratching her head. Ford gestured for them to all stand over by the side wall. "I will inform you all of this meeting's purpose once you are all here."

The group of four scientists Ford knew best, Dr. Wexler, Clark, Poddar and Jerald, (he felt comfortable calling them friends, but they still kept their behavior professional around each other) were all huddled up in a corner, muttering theories of what was going on. They liked gossip, something Ford learned about them pretty quickly.

Tyler walked in looking down at his phone. It was his free day! What was going on?!

Ford looked around, checking that everyone was here. "Thank you all for arriving promptly. I will be conducting an experiment, as it were. Can all of you please face the wall and close your eyes?"

The people all shuffled around and got into place as their boss asked them. Viola was still mortified, reaching a hand out from behind the bench and tugging at Ford's sleeve. "It's fine. You don't have to-"

"Now, since you're all closing your eyes, this will be an experiment in which only I can see the results. This is part of the experiment, so relax and try to answer honestly for the accurate results of this test." Ford told them firmly.

"If you had breakfast today, please raise your hand." Ford started off simply. He made a note of the answers. Hm. So a few of them skipped. Perhaps he should ask them about their reasons later, see if maybe they simply couldn't find anything in the food hall that agreed with them, heck, Ford might have been using this roundabout interrogation to weed out Viola's abusers, but he was going to get other information while he was here. (And alright, he might be somewhat hypocritical about others skipping meals when he had done so plenty of times, but he was their boss and their health was his responsibility!)

"If you have gotten injured during work in the last month, raise your hand." Ford asked next. He continued on like that, asking simple questions and getting them all to relax, until they simply answered naturally, raising their hands to answer in the affirmative when it applied to them without thinking much on it. A few would hesitate before raising their hands, but Ford kept at it.

Finally, "If you think someone's school informs about their qualifications, raise your hand." Ford noted several hands raised, including Tyler. "If you think people shouldn't be allowed to work here because of these qualifications, raise your hand." A few hands went down but a few stayed up. Ford's eyes narrowed. It wasn't just about Viola anymore. He had more than just scientists working here at the Center after all.

There was the kitchen staff, working hard every day to stock fresh cooked meals for them all so they didn't have to waste time making their own food. There was the janitorial staff who worked tirelessly to clean all the labs so that things wouldn't contaminate their experiments. So if anyone actually thought someone's school or education mattered more than their actual work ethic, well… Ford had a lot to say on this matter. After all, Sebastian hadn't even graduated from school for the longest time, but that didn't make his tailoring work any less professional or high quality as anyone else.

"Dr. Baxter, Mr. Lodge, Dr. Mantle and Dr. Gio, please stay behind. Everyone else, you may go back to your work." Ford stated. The people all turned around and opened their eyes, only to pale at the expression on Ford's face. Many of them quickly made their way out the door, correctly guessing their boss was unhappy about something and wanting to get the heck out of there. The remaining four men (and Viola, still hiding behind one of the lab benches out of sheer mortification) stayed, worried about what this was all about.

Tyler looked up at his boss, waiting for him to talk. Ford had his hands behind his back and he seemed very serious about something. What was going on? "Yes, Dr. Pines?" Could he stop being so dramatic?

"Do you all think that one needs a degree from an Ivy League college to be allowed to work here?" Ford asked plainly. Dr. Mantle nodded. "This is a very important research center, it should only accept the best and brightest." He felt that was obvious. Ford's eyes narrowed. "So, our cleaning staff shouldn't be allowed to work here? The chefs? The secretaries?"

Dr. Mantle looked taken aback. "No, that's not what I meant. Just… the other scientist here should be from good schools. It would be dangerous to allow someone without the proper education to be near all these experiments, and if they were from some lesser school, they wouldn't have access to the facilities and teachers to-"

"So you're saying me and Dr. McGucket shouldn't be here?" Ford asked with a cold voice. They all took a step back, intimidated. Viola's eyes widened a bit. Was he really...They had never mentioned their school in public before and...he was doing it just now because some jerk bothered her?

"U-Uh…" One of the scientists stuttered. "N-No, of-of course not…" another one blurted out. "What do you mean, Dr. Pines? You-You certainly…"

"What I mean." He lowered his voice a little, making the men flinch a little. "Is that I am from Backupsmore, and I apparently didn't have the proper education or teachers, despite the fact that they helped me when no other college would do so, because I had nothing and no money. They supported my career and even gave me a grant to study my chosen field. They believed in me and did their best to help me get a proper education, even if they couldn't afford all the best teachers, they still gave me a place where I could learn. Backupsmore isn't some fancy Ivy League school, but it was my school. And I will not have you all tell me that all my effort has been for nothing, just because I was turned down from West Coast Tech."

The men were speechless, Viola had tears in her eyes, feeling so honored and happy someone was finally standing up for her and defending her school. She was doing everything she could not to cry. This was NOT the moment!

Dr. Mantle almost fainted, realizing how much he fucked up, and the others were staring at their boss in a mix of fear and respect. Stanford was very scary when he wanted to be, especially glaring down at them and speaking so authoritatively. He had a pretty deep voice.

Tyler let out a shaky laugh and shook his head. "...You...You're kidding...You MUST be kidding, sir...Someone like you couldn't possibly come from such a loser school like-" he was cut off the sheer intensity of Ford's stare. This was a man who survived in space for 13 years. A man who fought head to head with a near-all-powerful demon who invaded his dreams countless times. Tyler faltered and his legs trembled. "So you think Backupsmore is a 'loser' school?" Ford asked, deceptively calm. Tyler couldn't even say anything. One of the other scientists actually peed himself a little bit.

"I-I...A little bit…" The older men stared at Tyler, thinking he was just utterly insane. How could he not realize he should just SHUT. UP?!

"But not you...you're cool Dr. Pines, just, other people who study there aren't as good as you! O-or Dr. McGucket! L-like, you guys are geniuses and-" Tyler tried to explain. But that only made Ford angrier. "Other people here? Like Miss Se?" he asked. Tyler nodded. "Y-yeah, like, she's just some frog girl. She's not good enough to-"

"Pack your bags and GET OUT!" Ford thundered. Tyler's eyes shot open. "S-sir?!"

"Did I stutter? I said GET OUT." Ford pointed at the door. "Your Internship is hereby terminated and I will be writing a letter to West Coast Tech to inform them of how disappointed I am with your behavior and your attitude."

Tyler gasped "Y-you can't! My parents would kill me-"

"This research center was built as a place to nurture and encourage people, scientists, brilliant minds and thinkers, to work on advancing humanity and changing the world. It's a place where we support anyone who wants to learn and make something new into the world." Ford said as he leered down at Tyler. "It is NOT, nor will it ever be, a place where anyone is allowed to insult, belittle or hinder and sabotage our fellow scientists. Someone like you doesn't belong here." Ford threw Tyler's words back at him. "So get out."

He turned to the other scientists. "And you all, I will be monitoring you, if I see any of you behaving in any way similar to that boy there, you're fired. Understand?" The other scientists nodded quickly, pale as can be and scared out of their wits.

Tyler let out an angry sob. "You'll hear from my lawyers, Stanford! I'm going to fucking ruin you for ilegal firing!" The young man spat before storming out. Ford waved at him. "Hope they know how to read contracts and work rules~" He and Fiddleford had gone over the Internship terms very carefully while writing it up. He was given the right to terminate any Intern's contract at any time. Tyler stormed out of the room and shouted over his shoulder, "That bitch's probably fucking you, isn't she?! Figures! She'd be sucking your cock every day like the slut she is to keep her internshi-" he was cut off by Fiddleford, standing right outside the door, shoving an ear of corn into his mouth.

"I'll be sure to include 'makes sexually harassing statements about his fellow intern and boss' into your list of offences." Ford nodded at Fiddleford, thankful his friend shut the boy up. "In the meantime…" Ford walked over to the intercom and pressed the button. "Security, I need you to escort someone off the premises."

The other scolded men left the lab after making profuse apologies, and after Ford closed the door (secretly loving the sound of Tyler's indignant screaming as he was dragged out), he looked around. He wasn't really sure where Viola hid.

"Miss Se? You can come out. The coast is clear."

Viola came out of her hiding spot, unable to hold back tears anymore, and approached her boss. She wasn't sure why she was crying, but she knew one of her emotions was happiness, happiness for finally having justice and being freed from Tyler's awful presence.

"Th-Thank you, Dr. Pines...Thank you." Ford crouched (Viola was very short and he was very tall), and smiled a bit. "The problem has been eradicated. You have nothing to apologize for. Now you can continue your internship until summer is over." Viola giggled wetly and sniffled. Ford sounded so formal sometimes…

She rubbed her arm awkwardly. "I know this sounds weird...but can I hug you? I feel like my thanks is not complete."

Ford blinked before nodding. "Um, alright sure." His first intern hugged him with complete gratitude for standing up for her and believing her, something that many women harassed at work didn't get. Ford wasn't sure what to do with his hands and ended up patting her head, awkward. "Ah, yes. Well. You're very welcome Miss Se. Ah…"

Viola laughed as she let go and stepped back. "T-thank you again, sir. I swear I won't let you down. I'm going to become an amazing scientist! I'm going to work really hard!"

"Just as long as you're having fun. I look forward to reading your papers in the future." Ford smiled.

Viola ran off, smiling so wide and feeling happier than she'd been in weeks.

And at the end of the shift, Ford had his four friends begging to know what happened (with more bets and money exchanging hands). He sighed.

-.-

The summer was finally ending and the twins were finally enrolled in preschool. They had found a local place that Seb and Wanda liked for the twins. It was close in case something happened and it was very nice. Stan had also enrolled Diego in preschool, the two brothers wanted their kids to finish at the same time. When they told their oldest and youngest brother about this, Shermie asked how he managed to get him accepted even though his toddler wasn't 3 yet. Stan just grinned and declared that teachers really loved rare pictures of their presidents~

The two sets of parents had gotten a list of things their kiddos needed to have for their classes. Stan had sent someone to buy them, but Seb had to go by himself, accompanied by the twins. He couldn't believe the amount of stuff a 3 year old needed to go learn THEIR NAMES AND COLORS!

And multiplied by two.

The list included hygiene products like their aprons, plastic aprons to paint, table cloths, toothbrush, toothpaste, toilet paper, and work materials, like sketchbooks, notebooks with big lines, cardboards, ( _thousands_  of them), color pencils, huge markers, pencils, erasers, glue (tons of glue), kid scissors, awls, the list went on and on. "This is a robbery! The school will keep most of the things I'm buying and then ask me for more next year!" Seb complained to himself. Why didn't Stan make a school? He'd get tons of money robbing others like this!

The twins enjoyed shopping though, they didn't really know it was for school, they just knew they were getting cool stuff to play and paint with. They felt helpful as Sebastian read the list aloud and they helped bring the needed stuff from the shelves. They also got to pick the notebooks they liked the most. Then, because everything needed to be labeled before handing it to the teacher, Seb spent an entire evening labeling each individual pen and marker. Multiplied by two. This was just ridiculous! He hated this! And Wanda wasn't even here! She was  _working_! Not fair!

AND when she came home, she saw all the mess and unfinished work her eyes widened really big and quickly gave him a lame excuse to NOT help! She was an ass! Fine. He'd get REVENGE later. And Wanda will suffer! But he needed to finish this first…

After basic shopping, where the twins got very basic t-shirts and shorts to wear at preschool (because like hell was Seb sending them there with their pretty clothes just for them to RUIN them. He knew from experience that kids could get very messy at that age), and after giving the required materials to their soon to be-teacher, the first day of classes arrived.

Stan, Seb later learnt, simply hugged and kissed his smallest baby and went to work, and it was Carla who took him to the first day. He was so angry at him for that, not accompanying Diego to his first day of school! How dare he!

However, because Seb was a good dad to the offspring he created, he and Wanda were there to accompany their babies. Zoe was frowning a bit, holding daddy's hand with one hand as she held her little backpack' handle. Zully looked more nervous, shaking as they clung to mommy's leg.

"It'll be alright, baby, I promise." Wanda stroked their head. She had combed Zully's hair into two adorable braids and Zoe was wearing two ponytails. "You will have a lot of fun here! You and your sister will make new friends to play with!" She insisted and Seb added. "Yeah, like in the park! You like playing with kids in the park. Here it's the same, there are kids and you'll get to play and paint all you want!"

Zoe shook her head and laid down on the floor. "Don't wanna!" She pouted. Seb picked her up and put her on her feet once again. "Hey, we gotta go shopping, there's no food at home and we won't be able to have lunch if I have nothing to cook! Can you stay here until I finish shopping?" The two kids nodded slowly. "But-But you'll be back?" Zully's lower lip trembled and Seb couldn't help but hug them. "Of course I'll be back, of course! Don't worry about that…" Wanda kissed their foreheads as Seb rubbed their little backs.

"Thank you, guys." Wanda told them. They were handling this pretty well so far.

"But be back soon!" Zoe pouted, still feeling kinda nervous. She had never been so far away from dad, but they were big girls, and they could stay here and wait for dad. She looked inside the class and had to admit the place looked really fun.

"Another thing, yes? Don't use fire here, ok? This is a secret only we Pines-Friedmann can do, ok?" Seb said, using a very mysterious voice to keep the kids' attention. "We have cool powers those other silly humans don't! So we gotta keep it to ourselves...just-just so others don't feel bad about their powerless selves~" He wished they shouldn't have to hide though...

Zoe and Zully giggled and promised not to show unworthy humans their powers.

"Bye, daddy! Bye, mommy!" The twins waved as their parents walked away. Their teacher smiled at them and led them inside the class. Wanda sighed in relief and smiled at Seb, who was pouting now that the twins couldn't see him. "They're gone...They went to their first class…" He sniffled. Wanda kissed his cheek and bid him farewell. She had work to do. "See you in the evening, baby. Don't worry, they'll be fine."

Seb went back home. Yes. He didn't need to go shopping. He lied just to convince the twins to stay. Now that he was home alone, he could cry all he wanted. HIS BABIES! THEY'RE ALL ALONE IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM NOW! He was going to miss them soooo muchh! They were probably waiting for him to come back for them! Seb rolled around on the ground, screaming. He missed his baaaaabies~! And they were probably missing him toooooo! He bet Zully was crying- his poor baby was always so scared around new people-

Back at Daycare, Zully was laughing along with their twin as the two ran around playing tag with the other children. So many new friends!

Seb whimpered as he curled up in the corner of the room. He needed to do something to take his mind off this. He pulled out his tablet to work on some sketches, heck, he was going to have to submit some stuff in for a fashion show he was planning to have… but he couldn't get into it, distracted as he was.

He wished he could see how they were doing, but spying wasn't an option when there weren't many triangles. Stupid square and circle centered world! He should get them a pendant to check on them too. It worked pretty well with Wanda! And he made sure Linda was safe in her new job. She seemed to have a new patient. He was very, VERY handsome, but Seb was trying to prove himself to be a better person so he wasn't actually spying. He tried not to see too much about their personal stuff. Seb merely checked to see that Linda was doing well and then left before the sessions with her new patient started.

"Stupid...mind...I-wanna-work!" He complained as he scribbled on his tablet. His phone rang-a distraction! And quickly picked it up. "Yellow!" It was Shermie, he was only calling to complain and rant (his wife forbid him from doing it at home with them). "Seb! Have you seen the candidates!?" Oh, this was a political rant. This should be  _fun_.

"Nah, I don't vote, I don't care." Seb shrugged but quickly laughed when Shermie groaned. "Well, you should try to make yourself care a little more. Most of these guys are jokes and they'll be running YOUR country for the next 4 years."

Seb shrugged. "Well...then, just reelect the last one? Michelle's husband?" He could feel his younger brother deadpanning at him. "You can't reelect someone 3 times."

"It's been 2 times already?!" He put Shermie on free speaker to search for the candidates names and all he found were memes. VERY FUNNY MEMES MIND YOU! But they couldn't be true...could they?

"Ok, I think I saw this orange guy on TV, the hell happened to him, oh my god...I know this woman...aaanndd I don't know this other guy, but why is he called a serial killer? Anddd this grandpa looks nice?"

Shermie went silent on the other side. "Oh my god…" He whispered, stressed. "We're so fucked up…" Seb laughed. "It'll be fine, don't worry, at the end they'll end up voting for this woman or the nice grandpa. Then they won't do shit for the next few years, maybe build a road and that's that. I, however, I'm going through a very much  _more_  important crisis, Sherman, so if you could stop being so selfish and listen to my problems, it would be nice."

"Seb! This isn't a joke!" Shermie whined. "I'm worried about our choices. Things would be really bad if the wrong person gets elected- Shlump is a terrible human being and he's rising in popularity-"

"His NAME is SHLUMP?!  **HAHAHAHAHAHAHA** " Seb laughed hysterically. He almost fell from the couch, laughing so hard. "He has to win! Just for that stupid name!"

"NO!" Shermie cried. "He's a racist motherfucker- and he's like… really sexist too! Abi says she's seen him on TV even before this in a bunch of shows and even back then he was an asshole! He's assaulted women before! And then he just throws money around to try and sweep it under the table."

Seb stopped laughing and hummed in thought, that sounded horrible indeed. "Ok, I think I can check on their plans, I guess, but I still don't know if I'm gonna vote at all." Shermie smiled. "GREAT! I made a comparative chart on Excel for you to see their proposals based on economical, social, and political plans. I'll send it to the Stans as well, because they must be as politically unaware as you."

"Well, if all else fails, the reptilian shadow government would probably step in to make sure the elections go however they want anyway." Seb shrugged.

Shermie refused to believe supernatural creatures controlled their government. It was one thing to know they existed, other that they had influence on their world.

"Alright. I sent it. Now I can listen to your crisis." Shermie said, hoping his brothers would care more about the elections after reading his elaborate chart! He was always very dedicated to this.

"Well...The twins first day of daycare was today and I feel sad and alone…We're always together." Seb sighed and his brother chuckled. "Aw~ That's why you should work, you wouldn't have time to think about them."

"I work! But at home!" Seb scoffed. "Who would cook and clean around if I weren't here?" He shook his head. "But...it's not that, I watch them, I'm with them the most...I feel empty…"

Shermie giggled. "It's ok, Seb, I know how you feel, but you'll get used to it, I promise. And best of all, we have twins, we know they're together in there, they aren't alone in their first day.."

Seb had to agree that his younger brother was right. His phone buzzed and it showed he was being called from the store. "Hey, Shermie, speaking of my work, I gotta hang up, have a pending call."

"Ok, bro, see ya, calm down ok? And read the chart!" Seb rolled his eye, agreed and took the next call. "Yes? What happened?"

"Hey, boss, a box was delivered to the store, but we didn't order anything, it's for you." The woman on the other side said. "For me?" Seb blinked. Who would send him stuff at the store?

"Yeah, the paper pasted on the outside says it's for this location but the person it's 'to' says Sebastian Pines, and it comes from New York." She examined it a bit more. "Oh, and the one who sent it was some Jackson...I can't pronounce his last name."

What? Jack?! Why would he send him a package? "Ok, I'll go see it, thanks." He hung up and called "Kids! We're…."

Right...No kids until 1pm…

Seb picked up the box from work, talked to a few customers, who were very happy to see him present (he only showed up if a personalized dress/suit was supposed to be made), and then went back home, still wondering what was inside that box. Maybe it was a present! That would be nice.

Once he was in the living room, he tried to open the box like a normal person using a cutter, but failed, cursed and decided to bite it open. And now, finally (still spitting packing tape), he could see what was inside the box. On top of the 'thing', which was wrapped in bubble wrap, so cute, there was a letter. It read "From Jack to Will!" He rolled his eye at that. he guessed that name stuck. "Hi, Sebastian! It's me, Jack, I guess you already know that because my name is on the box, but whatever. I was cleaning my dad's house a few days ago and I found this box full of your old stuff, from when you used to live with us!"

Oh...So this is what's going on!

"I thought you might like it back. I didn't know your home address, so I sent it to your store, congrats on that by the way! I'm totally visiting someday when I'm in the area! I hope you're doing fine, my wife and Jamie say hi! -J.N"

Seb chuckled. This was totally Jack. He couldn't believe he cared enough to send this back to him. He worked for them for like, 2 years max, and they cared. They were nice people. He pulled out the stuff inside and he couldn't help but laugh aloud. Oh god, why would he need these clothes back?! One. These were too tiny for him now (as surprising as that sounded!), and two. It was so from the 80s, maybe 90s! He could donate them, or reuse the fabric, that was a thing.

He did find money though, that was awesome, and an old sketchbook (Burn it with fire! He drew everywhere didn't he? And they were sooo baadd) He also found his old blanket and THAT made his chest clench a bit. Oh. Wow. He wondered if his brothers still had theirs...The only reason he was holding this again was because he took his blanket to Matsuda's place at some point...He felt safer there than at home…

And then, an old photo.

He looked so young in this, maybe even younger than Dillon and the twins were right now. He was holding the camera (the old way to take a selfie) and grinning widely. He was hugging an old man next to him, graying hair neatly combed and a sheepish smile at the camera. Matsuda…

Seb ran a finger over the photo and smiled sadly. He looked so young here, and happy and healthy...Seb let out a sob, but he felt just so happy. He thought he would never see Matsuda's face again! "Oh circles...I had forgotten about that dimple there…" He giggled softly to himself. And he thought he remembered his face clearly…

Seb felt much better the rest of the day, he remembered the nice moments he spent with his Dad and then he remembered the time he spent with Jack when they were both younger. That made him want to write a letter to him as well! So he did, thanking him so much for this present, and told Jack he was getting married soon. He'd be honoured if Jack was there. Seb quickly went to the post office to leave the letter, (because if he didn't do it now, he'd forget) and then decided to make a yummy lunch for his family in preparation for when they returned.

He barely noticed when it was time to pick up the twins, with how happily distracted he was. (Luckily, he set an alarm on his phone to remind him.) "KIDS!" He roared when the teacher appeared with them, holding each one in one hand. ""DADDY!"" The blond twins roared as well and ran towards their dad to throw themselves on his legs. "We missed you!" Zoe giggled when Dad picked them and snuggled them. The teacher cooed. "They were very good girls today, Mr. Pines~ They were very helpful and nice to the other kids."

"Oh~ You were~ I guess you DO deserve Mac and Cheese right now!" Zoe and Zully screamed and pulled Seb's nose and hair in their excitement. "Ow!"

"See you tomorrow, girls?" The teacher asked. Zully wrinkled their nose at that but Zoe nodded. "I wanna paint more!" They waved at the teacher and were put in their car seats to go home.

"Daddy, you missed us?" Zully asked, kicking their little feet as Zoe tried to look out of the window. "No. I was glad you were gone~~!" Seb lied with a funny voice to indicate it was a joke and Zoe laughed. Zully pouted though. Zully couldn't understand those pitch changes in peoples' voices (and had a little trouble picking up sarcasm), but Seb and Wanda didn't know about that. So Zully was a little confused. Daddy said he was glad they were gone, but that couldn't be true. So why was daddy lying?

"So, what did you do today? Did you like it?" Seb asked as he drove.

"YEAH! Why we didn't come befowe?!" Zoe demanded. "It was weally nice! I wiked it! We pwayed! And-And we painted! And we went to the swings! And we pwayed with many kids!"

Seb cooed and parked the car. The daycare was very close to their home. "And what do you think, Zully?" Seb turned back to look at his toddlers. Zully hummed and pulled at their messed up braid. "I wiked too...Eating my snacks was hawd though…" Seb freed them from their carseats and put them down.

"Why though?"

"Becuz-becuz kids all stood up and ran and played and taked their snacks to pway, but I don't know how they can wun and pway and eat at the same time!" Zully held Seb's hand as they walked inside the house. Zoe threw her backpack to the side and ran inside to say hi to her toys.

Seb laughed and picked up Zully, they were too far away from him. "Oh well, not all kids are as careful as you, pumpkin, you're adorable when you sit down to eat before going to play."

Zully shook their head. "No! I mean, they were running! And they were eating too! How can you eat and see?"

Seb stopped and looked at his child with a confused look. "What?" He knew Zully ate closing their eyes, but he thought it was just a tick? Something they did because they wanted to? "Baby, you can eat and see too, you know?"

"No! No one can!" Zully exclaimed very convinced. Seb was about to speak when Zoe came back, demanding his phone to search for a song.

"We sang many songs today, daddy! Find them!" She pleaded. Zully grumbled. "I didn't like the songs, though...Evewyone sing thewe! I don't like singing." They didn't understand it at all. The weird sounds going all up and down and everyone told them that they sounded weird when they tried to sing along.

"whAAATTT~?" Seb laughed. "What do you mean you don't like singing?! Gaasspp! How can you be my daughter if you don't like singing~ that's like a SIN!" He cried with mock offense. Zoe giggled. "A sin!"

Zullys eyes welled up with tears. "But...but you are my daddy…" They sobbed, with fat tears welling up in their brown eyes. Daddy always made these mean comments. Zoe always laughed and said they were funny, but Zully couldn't understand how they were funny at all!

Seb's eye widened when he realized he fucked up and quickly went to hug his kid. "Nononononononono! I'm so sorry, sweetie! I was joking! Ok? You're my daughter yes? You're my kid, my spawn, my blood, and my flesh and my bones!"

"Ew." Zoe said, but didn't look disgusted at all, she was smiling widely.

Seb picked Zully up, because they were starting to sniffle and sob, and kissed their nose. "I'm sorry. It really doesn't matter if you don't like singing, ok? I was just joking, sweetie…"

"How-How do I know when youwe jokin?" Zully rubbed their eyes. "It huwts…" Seb felt like a terrible dad for making his baby cry. "Well, there's...there's this way of talking, you change your voice when you're not being serious about something...Like...It's different Noooo~ REeaaallyyy~ from Noo! Really?!...You get it?"

"No." Zully shrugged. It sounded different, a little, but it was hard to tell. Actually, they couldn't really hear a difference at all, just a strange bit at the end, but they didn't understand.

Seb sighed. "Ok, you know what? How about we go eat lunch, yes? I made Mac and Cheese~ And then we can go eat ice cream!"

""YEAH!"" The twins cheered and they ran into the kitchen. Seb shook his head fondly. It was very weird, but he was in a good mood, and despite Zully still eating with their eyes closed, humming happily (a rumbling sound with no real melody, more of a singular toneless rumble), Seb was sure this wasn't something serious. Zully just had trouble understanding sarcasm and music, everyone was different after all. Maybe Zully just wasn't the type of person who understood that sort of thing. Their lunch went excellent, and the twins were eager to go back to daycare again, despite the 'singing' that Zully still didn't get. Seb was so glad their first day of school went so well!

-.-

"Oh my god~ Our last first 4th period of our 6th day of school! We will never have a 4th period in our 6th day ever again!" "We gotta make it memorable!"

"Hey Dipstick!" A bunch of girls who were his and Mabel's friends ran towards him and took a photo of his confused face before running away shouting "Memories!" "We'll never see Dipper's confused face again!"

Dipper rolled his eyes. He was tired. Girls and some boys were going cray cray at being seniors. He got it, graduation was coming up, but they had to calm down.

"Eeeehhh~~" A high pitched voice squealed behind him and jumped to his back, Dipper stumbled but he managed to remain on his feet and carry his crazy twin. "Dipper, can you believe we're seniors?! The place is so HYPE! It makes me SO excited!" She held herself up by hugging his neck. She tried nibbling his neck and Dipper cried. "Aahh! Dont bite me! You even have braces again!"

Mabel huffed. "Don't remind me…" Her wisdom teeth had come out and she didn't notice until it was too late. It had moved her teeth and the dentist said she needed braces again to fix the damage. Dumb teeth!

This did not dampen her mood and she continued talking to her twin. "I should get Smile Dip to celebrate~ Maybe get some to spike the punch, huh?!" She had contacts...

"No, Mabel, no hallucinogens in our graduation party." Dipper laughed and put her down on her feet. "Pssh! What's the worst that can happen? People could get possessed again but that's  _nothing_!"

Dipper blinked. "Yeah, just possession." He deadpanned.

"Have you picked up your prom jacket?!" Mabel asked excitedly. "They accepted my design!"

"Yeah, I haven't, but I've seen it. I think it has a lot of fake glitter on it…" Mabel laughed. "Well, people voted for it! It's called a democracy, Dipper! It was invented back with the romans!"

"Athens, but nice try, sis." Dipper punched her shoulder gently. Mabel rolled her eyes before gasping. "Oh right! Remember I slept at Jenny's the other day?! Bam!" She lifted her sweater's sleeve and Dipper gasped. She got a tattoo of a shooting star! The skin was still a little swollen from the procedure. Mabel even wrapped it in plastic to keep it from smudging as it healed.

"Mabel! Wha- Did you convince mom? I thought she told you no?"

Mabel hugged him by his shoulders. "Oh Dipper, you'll never learn will you? When there's no cops around, anything's legal!"

"I think Uncle Stan and Seb are a terrible influence." Dipper declared. Mabel rolled her eyes. "Well, at least I'm not wasting a year studying even more!" Dipper groaned. "It's not my fault you want to laze around for an entire year. At least I'm taking that year to further my knowledge before going to college, do you know what you want to do yet?"

"Uuuurgggghhhhhhh! Stop tormenting meeeee!" Mabel whined and blew a lock of hair out of her face. Dipper chuckled. "Ok, ok...That year will help you clear your mind, meanwhile you can busy yourself thinking about Sebastian and Stanley's wedding."

Mabel stopped abruptly and bumped against a girl, who didn't look happy at all about it. "WHAT?!" She screamed. Dipper grinned, finally knowing something before Mabel did. "Didn't you hear~? Uncle Seb and Stan are having a double wedding!"

Mabel leaped into the air and screamed. "OH MY GAWD! HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS?!" She grabbed Dipper by his jacket and shook him back and forth. "I need a dress! And a suit for Waddles!"

"I doubt Waddles is invited." Dipper deadpanned as he resigned himself to being waved around like a rag doll. Mabel finally released him and scoffed. "Of course Waddles is invited! Grunkle Seb LOVES Waddles!" Mabel let out a squeak. She was so excited for this! A wedding! A DOUBLE wedding! That was like… DOUBLE the romance!

Mabel facetimed her uncle later in the day to complain about not being the first one to know.

"I'm sorry? I told Shermie, I thought he would tell you."

"Dad sent two 12 year olds to an unknown uncle and was going to go on a flight without telling said uncle we were on the way." Dipper added. "He has a chicken's memory."

"So~?! Are there any specific colors?! I want to get Waddles a nice little suit!" Mabel squealed. Waddles oinked along with her.

"No. Absolutely not." Seb crossed his arms. "You're not taking that jerk to my wedding!" Waddles grunted. Seb narrowed his eye. "Nope. You won't be able to convince me." Waddles tilted his head to the side and let out another grunt. Seb scowled. "Hell no. I don't care what you say, you're not coming!" Waddles blinked at him slowly and squealed.

"Auuuhh! FINE! You can come! But you better not poop in the reception hall!" Seb growled at Waddles before turning to Mabel. "And he BETTER be on a leash all the time or we are serving him as a dish!"

Mabel squealed and hugged her pig. "Thank you, Uncle Seb! You're the best! I knew you'd agree! You DO love Waddles!"

"A dinosaur almost killed us for it, I tolerate him." Seb sneered. "A pterodactyl." Dipper corrected intelligently, wincing a bit when both Mabel and Seb glared at him.

Now that Mabel knew Waddles was invited too, she continued abusing her privilege as Seb's only niece. "SO~ Are you inviting everyone in town~? Can I invite my friends?" She fluttered her eyelashes. Seb groaned. "By town I'm guessing you mean Gravity Falls? Eehhhh I'm inviting Soos and Wendy. And McGucket. And I guess Wendy's family can come too. And Abuelita of course. And I think Soos would want to bring Melody. And Susan would probably want to come too…"

Mabel giggled. So, if Seb kept this up, he was going to invite the whole town. After Seb debated aloud if he should avoid inviting Bodacious T just to spare the guests from Wanda's side of the family, and Mabel screamed "You HAVE to invite Toby!", Seb shook his head. "Wait. Is this my wedding or yours, Shooting Star?"

"I'm your favorite niece! I get privileges!"

"I'm not letting Toby Determined anywhere near my wedding." Seb deadpanned. Mabel pouted. "Can you at least invite Candy, Grenda and Pacifica?" She paused. "And Marius. Imagine having a Baron at your wedding. So high class!"

"Sure I'll invite your friends." Seb grinned. "But this guest list is getting long. Am I supposed to just invite everyone?" He joked. Mabel cheered and pulled out her phone. "DON'T ACTUALLY INVITE EVERYONE!" Seb cried.

"Well at least you remembered to invite Dan. You know he helped me and Dip-Dop escape the government guys that day you brought the Stans back?"

"Wait , what?" Seb blinked. Dipper sighed. "Long story. But he bumped his truck against the car and after the crash we got out."

Seb twitched. "I want to hear more about that later. That was really fucked up for him to do. You guys could have died." He was going to have a talk with Dan...

"Oh! If you're inviting McGucket, you need to invite his wife and son too." Mabel pointed out.

"And what about Gideon, Shooting Star~? He is part of town too~" Seb teased with a smirk. There was NO way he was inviting the Gleefuls (and now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen them since the twins were infants), but it was incredibly fun to tease his niblings.

Mabel's face turned dark and she looked away. "Uuuuh… we parted ways and he said he was going to be better, but I still don't want to see him. He tried to kill us."

"So did Dan, apparently, but somehow that's ok?" Seb deadpanned. He wished he'd known this, it was so dangerous and his twin niblings had been smol babies!

"Well, I did purposely make him angry to try and make him hit us with the truck, that's different." Mabel waved off. Dipper groaned. "We were pretty desperate." He paused. "Mabel's also really good at writing backward. I never realized it before that point."

"Right…" Seb nodded slowly, not understanding what writing backward had to do with anything. "Well, as long as Shermie doesn't know I think it's ok. He'd try to kill me for that."

Mabel started naming people in town (and Dipper and Seb realized she basically knew the names of everyone?!), and Seb rejected most of them. He didn't recognize (or remember) all the names, and as much as he would like it, he couldn't invite everyone. It was a double wedding, so it was also Wanda, Carla and Stan's guests.

"I'll send you the notes I made so you can reconsider!" She exclaimed and Seb rolled his eye fondly. She knew how to abuse her privileges. He had a feeling Shermie and Stan wouldn't want daughters (since that would involve having more children, which they just weren't in the mood for) and Ford was out of the picture, so Mabel will abuse her powers until she was old and gray.

"Alright. I want you in a suit, Dipper! And bathed! And smelling like expensive perfume! No cheap ass cologne!" Seb warned the boy with a serious look.

Dipper rolled his eyes. "I know, I'll wear a suit! I'm not a child!" And he'd bathe because it's a special occasion!

"Sure you aren't, bye, pests~" Seb teased before hanging up. As soon as he ended the call, his own set of blond twins pushed the door of his room open and ran towards him giggling. They wanted to cuddle!

"Hey~ What were you two doing? I hope nothing's on fire!" He picked them up with his mind and the twins hugged him. "Nope! No fiwe!" Zully promised. "Who wewe you talking to?!" Zoe demanded.

"To Dipper and Mabel, about mommy and daddy's wedding." He explained. The twins giggled. They were told mommy and daddy were making a party to show everyone how much they loved each other, and that made them very happy.

"Daddy, awe you excited to mawy mommy?" Zoe asked and Seb laughed. "At first I wasn't sure, but now, heck yeah! I'm very excited!"

"And how it will be? Like in movies?" Zully asked. "And mommy will weah a long cute dwess like a pwincess?"

Seb scoffed. "Mommy won't wear anything princessy. I have seen her options. They're pretty, elegant, but not pompous enough." Wanda didn't like those kind of clothes. "You make clothes! You will make heh dwess?" Zoe asked.

"Nah, but I'll make my own suit! The best, bestest suit in the history of suits!" He poked their bellies and the twins squealed and kicked their legs. "I'LL be a prince, excuse you~" He looked at Zully.

"And we will go too?"

"Of course you will! That reminds me, we gotta start looking for clothes for you two. What do you want to wear? A dress? Formal pants? A suit?" They shrugged and Seb sighed. It was ok. They still had time.

But meanwhile~

"Hey, do you wanna see how my suit's coming along?" It was his best work so far, in his humble opinion, and he had made very incredible things, (also in his humble opinion). He would sell the design later (this was his masterpiece and he planned to make it just a little bit more expensive than his usual designs), so other men could marry looking fabulous as well.

He took the twins to his work room, they weren't allowed to come in usually, but he was the one who offered. He tied their hands to their backs with his powers for precaution, they laughed (kind of used to this), and he pulled out his suit. "Ta dahhh~"

Zoe and Zully gasped in awe. "It's SO PWETTY!" Zoe screamed as loud as she could. Seb laughed. "Yes it is! I'm gonna look FABULOUS~!" Zully was grinning so wide as they stared at the pretty suit. They wanted to be able to wear something like that someday...

-.-

Stan was checking over the wedding invitations. So many people. He wasn't sure if the building they chose for the reception would actually fit all of them, even when it was a HUGE place. But he had a checklist to make sure he got all the invitations he needed for this. The CEO groaned and rubbed his eyes. (His eyes hurt, he really shouldn't go around not wearing glasses. He wasn't 20 anymore.) So many names…

And worst of all, as it was a big event, they had to check the names and verify them with a copy of their ID. Ugh. For security reasons. Almost everyone had sent their copy…

"Hey Maaaa!" Stan screamed. "Can you give me your ID for a seeecccond!?" He sat there, screaming, until his pissed mom finally showed up. "Are you 5, Stanley? Don't scream!" She said, annoyed at how childish he still was. Stan rolled his eyes and grabbed the ID and gave it a look.

Stan frowned. "Ma, your name is wrong, you know?" The old woman leaned closer and grinned. "Nah, it's fine."

"But it says Caryn! Not Kari!" He complained. Kari laughed louder. "Because that's my name, Stanley."

Stan's jaw dropped. "What?"

Kari muffled her laughter behind a hand. "Kari is my nickname." Goodness, she didn't realize her son actually thought-

"What!?" Stan looked so gobsmacked at this that Kari almost choked while laughing.

"How-How come I'm learning this now?! Why did you lie to us like this?! This is JUST like when you lied by telling us I was the oldest triplet! How COULD YOU?!" He complained loudly, which made the woman just laugh harder. Stan was so shocked and so pissed and BETRAYED with the news that he forgot about the guest list and called his brothers.

And to no one's surprise, none of them knew Kari wasn't their mom's actual name. He thought he even heard Seb cry? Kari found it all hilarious.

Carla had to pay up Wanda and Abi after the brothers discovered. For next time, she knew the safe bet would always be betting against the Pines brothers' intelligence. Sigh.

-.-

The date of the wedding was coming closer. Seb gave up on convincing his brother to look amazing. Fine. It was better for him to SHINE ALONE!

Stan had his suit ready, the place was rented as well as the services they'd be using. Curiously enough, it took the press a while to know about the wedding. And now he guessed it was a public thing.

One day, he found himself trapped in the living room with his Ma because Diego fell asleep on his lap and he couldn't move without waking him up, so he watched Tv with her, chatting lightly during commercials.

"So, everything's ready huh?" Kari asked. She occasionally remembered the day the triplets and Shermie discovered her real name and still giggled from time to time.

"Yup, I guess we just gotta wait now...I hope we get nice presents, this is turning out to be more expensive than I thought." He mumbled, and Kari chuckled. "That would be nice, but the important thing is that you're marrying your loved one, it's a special moment…"

Stan gently rubbed Diego's back. "Ma...Did you really love Pa when you married him?" He asked softly. Kari smiled sadly. "I did, yeah. A HELL lot...I met him when we were both young and he was very nice, he seemed polite and responsible, and...he'd take me to dance, it was wonderful…" And then it happened. He  _changed_ , he became violent and cold. To her, to their kids…

"Why do you ask? Are you afraid of compromise?" She teased.

Stan shook his head. "Ma, I've got two kids with that amazing woman, I love her...I was just...I don't know, thinking that maybe you didn't love Pa at all and…" he rubbed the back of his neck. "And I felt...bad that you had to go through that…"

"Oh, Stanley, you don't have to worry about me." Kari smiled. "I do, you're my mom." Stan rolled his eyes. "You've always cared about us, even after everything and...that we ended up being two more than you expected…" He shrugged.

"Well neither of you were expected." Kari admitted softly. "We thought it was just one boy at first, but the scan came back and the doctors were surprised to see two of you. And then… well, even the doctors weren't expecting Sebastian."

Stan grinned. "Well, we're awesome like that." Kari giggled. "You are~" She said before sighing. "If I'm honest with you, son, I was very worried when I got pregnant with you...Your father wasn't...very happy…"

"Ah, gee, I had no idea~!" Stan said sarcastically. Kari chuckled. "I still don't know why though, we were already married and all...He had a lot of trouble when we found out you were "two"...but he came to terms with it, he even chose your name~"

"Creative guy~" Stan nodded with mock appreciation.

"I think having triplets was too much for him…" of course it wasn't Seb's fault.

"Still. Even if he had wanted us, even just a little bit more, he wouldn't have cared. That guy's like stone, expressionless, he doesn't care about anyone...I have a feeling he'd only complain and be a jerk if he went to our wedding…" Stan grumbled.

"Are you...planning to invite him?"

"Oh, hell NO! I wouldn't do that to Seb! He made my triplets hurt." Filbrick could fuck himself for all Stan cared. "I'm just angry ranting about how little he would care"

Kari looked down, guilty that her sons hated their father so much, that they had to go through that…

"Oh no, don't do that, Ma!" Stan warned. "You don't have anything to feel sad for!" He pointed a finger at her, Diego still curled up on him. "We love you, ok? That's the only thing that matters!"

Stan shook his head. He wished things had been different. But they weren't. Things turned out this way, there was no changing that. His father was a jerk to them and nothing would change that. He was going to die a sad and lonely old man now, because neither of them cared enough for him. Stan hoped he was satisfied with his life, with his choices. And yes, Stan was very bitter about it. He'd… he'd used to look up to their dad, what child wouldn't, after all? But he learned that he was wrong. Filbrick wasn't a man to look up to. Stan shook his head. No point in getting himself all angry over it. There was nothing they could do now.

At least he ended up with no kids, just like he wanted.

-.-

The triplets groaned loudly as their little brother continued babbling about politics. Someone make him stop! "I know you're getting married soon, but you know what else is happening soon? Elections!"

"Shermie, I already said I'm voting." Seb deadpanned at the screen. "Yeah, but you're doing it for ME. You should do it for your  _country_ ~!"

Seb could see where Mabel's passion came from.

"And you two, dumbasses! Are you registered yet? Will you be part of the future of the country?"

"...Sherman, there are like, two people in that list...both which I don't like…" Ford said slowly, and his youngest brother looked livid.

"You can't say both are the same though!"

"So I'm supposed to vote for the lesser evil?"

"Yeah~!"

Stan rubbed his forehead. "I don't know, kid. I've heard stuff from both, but I'd say Haylie does sound kinda worse, you know?"

Shermie's eyes almost came out of its sockets as Seb stared at Stan with an incredible look. "Are you being serious?" Seb asked as Shermie screamed "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! YOU'RE CONSIDERING IT?!"

"wELL...He IS a businessman-"

"Yeah, whose businesses FAILED! Has NO idea of politics and is a disgusting racist and sexist pig." Shermie ranted. Seb laughed, still feeling and hoping that his brother was joking. There was no way someone THAT outright awful could be running for president and doing well enough that he was actually one of the guys in the lead!

"Stan...I know you've been missing for 13 years...but there are things called PLANES AND BOATS!" Shermie stood up and put his face closer to the camera. "A million dollar wall is stupid as shit and a waste of money!" He screamed.

"Are you insulting me, kid?!" Stan growled and Shermie grinned. "Maybe! Did you read ANYTHING I sent you?!" Shermie practically screamed in Stan's face. "Sherman, what IS your problem?!" The three youngest started fighting and shouting and Ford was really tempted to end the call, this was getting weird.

"Abuelita is an immigrant." Ford decided to speak up, and it made the three of them stop yelling and look at him. "I don't know their legal status, would you risk having friends, good people and good citizens, deported because they don't have a paper? Many countries allow people to enter their countries with no problem." Ford shrugged. "Have you noticed this one has visas just for certain countries? We've been doing worse in space, trespassing, stealing, illegal possession of weapons~" Ford was smiling just a little bit. He wouldn't say he was proud about that...but he was proud they did THAT and survived!

Shermie and Seb shared a digital look and grinned. Wow. Their nerdy Goody two shoes bro had a CRIMINAL RECORD in space!? As they burst out laughing, Stan frowned. He was right! That Shlump guy could hurt Soos' family and Stan wouldn't allow that! If he had to, he would get his brass knuckles! Though… that probably wouldn't work in this case like it used to out in space.

-.-

The result were more than depressing, stupid and unfair, but they would try to ignore it in favor of the wedding…

A week before it, Wanda and Seb were together in the hairdresser, receiving coos from the women who thought it was adorable. The couple were getting their nails done together. They also shaved, especially Seb, much to Stan's snickers. His brother was so weird~

"Did you shave your whole body?"

"Yeah. Everything from the neck down."

"Ah, I see what you're planning to do after the wedding, huh?" Stan wiggled his eyebrows and Seb shrieked. "Ugh, you only think about  _that_  don't you?!"

"And I bet Wands does too~"

"Stop!"

The twins also got a manicure under Zoe's insistence and she loved her pink nails with a white heart. Zully wanted blue nails, because daddy was painting his a darker color too.

Their parents had their clothes ready, now mommy said they gotta choose a dress or a skirt for the twins to wear because it was a 'formal' event. Zoe wanted a pretty dress with a bow (or flowers!), but Zully wasn't sure they wanted a dress or a skirt…Daddy painted his nails so they agreed, but daddy wasn't wearing a dress or a skirt. Sure, he did at home sometimes, but only at home...

"Why don't you want to wear a dress, princess? It's not itchy at all and it's really soft and cute!" Wanda tried to negotiate.

"Daddy... daddy don't wear dwesses! He make them! Only giwls weaw dwesses!" Zully complained and stomped a foot. "But you're a girl, Zully…" Wanda muttered confused.

Seb sighed. "Hey, it's alright. We can get you a cute suit huh?" He picked them up and looked at Wanda. "I'm buying them a suit, you can go shopping for a dress with Zoe. They gotta go to the wedding with something they want." He said, and Wanda sighed but agreed. Seb was right, if Zully didn't want a dress, they could wear a suit, it didn't matter. She was supposed to be teaching them, as their mom, that they could wear whatever clothes they wanted! Wanda decided she was going to blame her mom for talking all week to her about the twins wearing pretty dresses. Wanda should have known she shouldn't listen to her mother's advice.

A few hours later, Seb met back with Wanda and Zully was skipping happily next to him, carrying their bag. "I have a suit!" They squealed, pure glee in their brown eyes. "I'll look like daddy!" Zully pointed at their dad, who was actually wearing a shirt and a suit jacket. Seb ruffled Zully's hair. "This little girl's got a fashion sense, Wands!"

Wanda couldn't help but smile. Both their kids liked the clothes they chose, that made her happy as well. Seb helped Zully change into their suit so they could show mommy. It was a white shirt, a little dark blue bow tie, a cerulean blue jacket and dark blue pants. Zoe asked Wanda to help her change as well so Daddy could see her clothes too, and the twins proudly showed off their clothes. "OOhh~ Fancy~~" Seb smiled and took a photo.

(Drawing by Miz!)

 

"No offense, love, but they obviously got it from me~" Seb batted his eyelashes at Wanda as he posed.

Wanda rolled her eyes. "That's fine, they get their intelligence from me." She teased back.

Seb gasped loudly. "How DARE you?!" He screamed. Wanda simply laughed hard. She couldn't wait to marry this idiot!

-.-

The day of the wedding was here. They arrived at New York yesterday and were staying at Stan's place. They had hired a nanny for their three toddlers, who would get them ready while the parents were busy.

"Good morning~" Wanda giggled, stroking Seb's sleepy face. "Uurghh!" "If we don't wake up, we won't have time for anything~ You wouldn't want to be late~"

That made him wake up. "Wedding!" He exclaimed. Seb jumped out of bed and met his brother and soon sister- in law to have breakfast. They were going to have a photoshoot before the wedding, first separate, then together and with their kids. For that, Stan cared enough to carefully shave his face. A professional makeup artist was coming for Stan's excited bride to help Carla with styling her hair and touching up her makeup. Carla wanted to look beautiful.

Seb wanted to do Wanda's makeup but they all told him that the groom wasn't supposed to see the bride before the ceremony. Seb sadly allowed Wanda to go with Carla to get her makeup done.

He did his own make up though. Just enough to look fabulous. Base, a bit of shadow, eyeliner, curl his eyelashes, mascara. He also defined his eyebrows too, and covered the small scar he got from when Filbrick slammed him too hard against the edge of the wall. He wouldn't hire a makeup artist anyway, he didn't like strangers touching him or being too close to him.

Dillon was sitting on the bed with Diego as he watched the two brothers get ready in HIS room. Mom and Aunt Wanda were in another room with the twins. He should be getting ready soon. He texted Phillip and asked if he was ready to be in the coolest wedding on Earth. Phillip replied with a literal 'no.' Dillon laughed. Looks like his boyfriend was nervous.

"Woah!" Stan gasped mid-tie tying when his brother came out of the bathroom and posed with his suit.

"Uncle Seb~!" The teen exclaimed. "That looks SO cool!" Diego gasped too. "Why is your suit not black like daddy?"

"Because I ain't no basic bish, Diego~" Sebastian grinned smugly at Stan who couldn't help the snort that escaped his mouth.

"Are you wearing heels?!" Stan exclaimed, realizing Seb was finally his height. He was wearing black shoes with thick and long heels. They looked kinda like boots. "Of course, how ELSE am I supposed to be tall?! DUH!" He rolled his eye. "And this~ Is not even the best part! But I ain't wearing it until the photoshoot and the wedding. Made two in case it got dirty or something." He opened the case where the 'best part' was neatly folded to give the men a sneak peek.

Dillon decided he wanted something like this for his own wedding someday. Phillip would love it!

The thought made him blush.

"You're insane…" Stan laughed and Seb tied his brother's tie. "Sure I am!"

-.-

So...Wanda finally saw the project her boyfriend took so long to make. He looked  _gorgeous_  and  _wonderful_ …

And she shook away the naughty thought of seeing him  _without_  it at the end of the day. Bad Wanda.

Carla was actually amazed by it and high fived Seb. "You look great!" She said. "Well, you look totally amazing too, Flower~" He held her hand and bowed. "May I say how adorable you look?"

Stan and Wanda shared a look. "Um, can you like, not flirt with my fiancée?" Stan grumbled. Seb laughed when Carla pulled him closer. His smile turned more serious when he finally saw Wanda closer. Her hair was curled and braided as a crown. He hadn't been there when she went shopping, but he was SO in love with her dress. It was so her and so pretty and her beautiful shoulders exposed and the most beautiful heart shaped cleavage and her delicate golden necklace…

"You- you look beautiful…" He whispered, speechless. Wanda smiled and looked down. "You look amazing…" then Seb paused. "Wait, didn't you guys say that I'm not supposed to see my bride until later?"

Carla giggled. "Nah, we were just fucking with you."

"I hate you SO fucking much. I'd kill you if I could." Seb deadpanned at her.

Their photoshoot went really well. There were some paparazzi trying to get close ("You get used to it," Carla whispered to Wanda when she asked how Carla could tolerate this) and they took photos with their children. The toddlers were smiling because their parents were smiling, and they were very proud of their formal clothes. Diego and Zully were both wearing suits (Diego's suit was black though) and bowties, and Zoe felt special being the ONLY one with a cute dress!

Only Dillon understood what was going on though and it was so amazing to be present at his parents' wedding, that wasn't something you got often!

He was seeing Phillip at the wedding too (Mom forced Dad to accept), and he couldn't wait! Best day ever! He held Diego and the twins when Seb and Wanda had a photo on their own. Dillon couldn't wait for everyone to see his uncle's clothes. He brought HONOR to the community!

The photos they were taking right now was on some stairs and it perfectly showed off his uncle's suit. It was a white shirt with a black tie. A dark vest with little golden buttons and a beautiful white jacket with black lapels. One surprising thing was that he was wearing a TIE! Not a bowtie! His hair had been nicely combed and Dillon could see why Seb had left it to grow, his sideburns were slightly longer and his hair looked amazing.

The prettiest stuff though, was his  _veil_.

Yes. Sebastian freaking Pines made himself a cape veil with some weird triangular patterns. And it looked freaking amazing!

The veil fell nicely on the stairs and as Wanda held a bouquet of roses, the photo was taken.

Wanda snorted once the photo was done. "You look like a peacock." she told Seb. He preened, "Of course! But I'm way more fabulous than some bird!"

"A pretty peacock…" Wanda purred and kissed him. The photographer took that as a chance to

snap another photo. Sincerely, Wanda loved Seb's suit, he was so extra and she loved it. She was glad she was enjoying herself. Carla was so sexy with her tight, hip hugging dress accentuating all her curves, but Wanda was a simple woman. She liked her dress, it was comfortable and pretty without being too over the top.

Before they realized it, it was time to go to their wedding. The place they rented was waiting for them to party! Well, first they had to sign the marriage contract and THEN party. Seb seemed pretty excited to drink and dance. It worried Wanda a little bit. She'd have to watch him, good thing they remembered to hire a nanny to watch the twins and Diego in the party.

They were in a limo now and Zoe was trying to play with the windows. They distracted the children with snacks though, because they had to eat and weren't going to be able to wait any longer. Dillon even got a sandwich for himself! That nanny was awesome.

Meanwhile, the guests were arriving to the loud and special were security guards dutifully checking the list, making sure only guests could enter and paparazzi and unauthorized reporters stayed outside.

Mabel was buzzing with excitement, they had a table, but she couldn't remained seated! "Where ARE they?!" Waddles was hiding under the table, his leash tied up on a chair. Her immediate family (Wanda's and Carla's too) was with her, bearing her. From the Pines side, it was her mom, dad, Dipper (and Pacifica) Uncle Ford and her granny but she went to the bathroom.

"Oh, no what if something bad happened?!" Mabel frowned worried. Shermie rubbed her shoulder, feeling weird at how Carla's parents were staring at them. "Hey, sweetheart, look! More guests, why don't you go introduce yourself?"

"You're not distracting me with-OOhh! Friends!" Mabel stood up and walked towards her best friends, Candy and Grenda, pulling Pacifica with her. "Girls! I missed you!"

"We missed you too, Mabel!" Candy hugged her. "I love your dress!" She gasped and Mabel examined her friends and gasped. "Are you kidding?! You two look SO beautiful!" She exclaimed. "Hi, Marius~~ Looking handsome!"

Marius, still rocking the long hair (he looked even more handsome now that he was a young man and not a child), held her hand and bowed politely. "Guten Tag, Mabel. Hello, Pacifica." Marius nodded politely at the blonde and repeated the gesture.

"Hi, Marius, being a long time." Paz grinned. She used to play with him as little kids.

Grenda giggled, which sounded pretty loud. "There are a LOT of paparazzi outside!" Candy nodded excitedly. "They took photos of us!"

"Yeah, well, like, 3 famous people are getting married today and Uncle Ford is like a very rare hermit crab so they must be going crazy." Mabel pointed at Marius. "And this guy is here! Now they'll try to get in even more, lol~" Mabel checked her phones for updates of the outside world. Those guys were fast! They already released the news that Marius was at the party.

"Oh, my mother almost didn't let me come, she don't-doesn't really like me coming to the Americas like a commoner and drawing attention." Marius sighed at that. "-But they know Pacifica's family-" He nodded at the Northwest girl before looking at Mabel. "And they know  _your_  family from that...weird party in the former Northwest Manor." The Baron said and turned to Grenda. "The day we met~"

"AWWW!" Grenda hugged the slim young man until his face went red.

Mabel giggled. "Well, my uncles aren't here yet!"

The place was slowly filling in with the guests. So many different groups. Family of the brides, friends of the bride (those included Alex and Johnny), family of the grooms (they shared family so that reduced it a little bit, some uncles, cousins, just from their mom's side) but their friends' were the problem. Not only because there were a LOT, but because half of those guests were famous or recognized, so the event was becoming more and more famous as celebrities showed up. The actors and actresses that Carla worked with, professional athletes from Stan's team and some of Seb's rich clients… it was a pretty amazing VIP list.

This was exactly why poor little Phillip was standing in a corner, pissing his pants. He wanted Dillon to come already.

The entire team of the New Eagle Patriots was here and he needed an autograph.

He looked around, hoping to find somewhere to sit, but nope, everyone apparently knew each other. As he scanned the room, he spotted a man with curly brown hair, looking down at his phone. Phillip, third in his class, intelligent medical student, thought to himself. ' _Dillon's dad is a triplet. That means three. Stan is not here, so that's not Stan, and the other triplet is also getting married so that goes two. There's scientist triplet...the third, because triplet means three. And this man looks a lot like Stan, same face, therefore...'_

Those must be Dillon's family!

Phillip cautiously made his way over. "Um… hello?" He called out hesitantly.

Dipper (Mabel kidnapped his girlfriend and he was left alone) and the adults looked up at the red-haired teen. "Um, hi, man."

Shermie looked up with a smile and Ford looked confused. "Well, and who might  _you_  be~"

"Are-Are you...Mr.-Mr. Pines' brother?" Phillip asked shyly, his entire face going red. Shermie and Stanford shared a look. "Yeah."

"Um...I-My name is Phillip, I'm Dillon's-Dillon's…" Phillip wasn't sure if Dillon was out to his family yet and didn't want to out Dillon before he was ready.

"Boyfriend!" A high pitched scream was heard and Phillip squeaked when a girl hugged him. "You're Phillip! I'd TOTALLY recognize that red hair anywhere! Oh my god, you're even handsomer in person!"

"Um, whos that?" Paz asked as she sat back with Dipper. "Girls, family, say hi to our  **new family member,**  Phillip! Dillon's new boyfriend!"

"Oh…" Shermie nodded slowly. "Greetings." Ford said before looking down at his phone. Kari came back from the bathroom and Phillip felt a sudden rush of relief. Finally! Someone he knew!

"Hello, Phillip." She nodded at him politely and Phillip, trapped in Mabel's hug, said. "Good evening, Mrs. Pines." Phillip was released from the hug and looked down at the excited girl. "And~ I don't know you…"

"I'm Mabel, your future maid of honor." She shrugged easily. Phillip blushed.

"The couples are coming!" Someone shouted and Mabel gasped loudly. "OH MY GOD!" She pushed Phillip aside with surprising strength, and screamed. "THEY'RE HERE!" Phillip rubbed his arm. Looks like Dillon's extended family were quite… excited?

The limo parked just outside the place. There was a red carpet leading to the entrance. There were huge security guards standing all along the carpet to keep the photographers and paparazzi out. Not even the rope barriers were keeping them behind. There was a lot of chattering as the paparazzi tried to get an interview. "Stanley Pines! Look this way!" "HI! Can I get your statement about why you chose a double wedding?!" "Your suit looks amazing! Did you make it yourself? Is it available in your store?!"

Stan got Diego out of the car and picked him up as he waved at the cameras. Dillon blushed and tried to hide his face. This was embarrassing. The driver got out to help the two brides get out. Seb held onto the twins as they winced at the flashes of the camera.

"Stan! Stan! How're ya feeling!?" Someone asked from the crowd and Stan smiled. "So freaking happy!"

"What are you wearing?!" "I'm wearing a suit!"

"Carla! Carla! Can you give us a few words?! "I'm so glad I'm finally here, marrying my long time partner along with two of my best friends!" Carla replied easily.

Seb smiled smugly as a group of photographers snapped photos of his cape veil. Wanda seemed a little overwhelmed by this. She had been in front of the cameras a few times, when Seb had a few fashion shows or interviews, but she wasn't used to this.

"Sebastian, did you make that?" "Wanda, what are you wearing?!" "ASK ME ABOUT MY CLOTHES!" Seb told the paparazzi. "I made my own suit! And yes, this is my new design!"

After a few photos, the couples finally entered the place with their children, where the person who was marrying them was already waiting. The soft music playing inside was changed to a more 'wedding appropriate one and everyone lowered their voices and stood up to receive the couples. The actual hired photographers followed them inside, recording and taking photos of them, the guests, the decorations, everything. Butlers, chefs and barmen started rushing because they knew that after the formal event, dinner followed. And after dinner, the party, and party meant drinks and alcohol.

There was a nice canopy and the legal documents they had to sign where there as well. Seb sent the kids off to the table with Shermie and the rest of their immediate family was. The nanny followed as well. "Hang out with everyone for now, mommy and daddy need to go up to get the boring stuff over with first." Seb winked at the twins. They didn't really get it (especially because dad had one eye and they didnt know when he was blinking or winking), but their cousins were here so they ran over to hug Mabel (who was the bestest cousin because she always had candy somewhere on her).

Diego had to be careful with his chubby cheeks though, Mabel liked to squeeze him and hug him a lot!

Stan and Seb had decided to buck most of tradition and instead of having the procession with the groomsmen and bridesmaids or a rabbi, they just wanted to get the formal affair over with so they could PARTY. So they offered their arms to Carla and Wanda with charming bows. The women, with silly, excited smiles, shared a look and accepted the offered hands. The soft wedding music started playing as the couples slowly walked over to the judge. Seb's train was longer than either of the brides, the light material fluttering through the air behind him like a majestic tail.

They stood in front of the heavily decorated table with the floral arch, a chuppah, above them (Seb liked this part of the jewish tradition, because it looked cool), and the music stopped. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Today we happily stand in front of two couples who have decided to spend their lives together. Stanley Pines and Carla McCorckle and Sebastian Pines and Wanda Friedmann." The civil servant they hired smiled at them all.

"Mommy and daddy!" Zoe shouted from her seat and a few guests chuckled. The speech went on, it wasn't long and drawn out though, no one wanted to hear that guy, everyone wanted to get to the good part, the part where the couples got to make their speeches.

Stan proceeded to give a short speech about the day he and Carla met, how he'd bravely saved her from a purse snatcher. Carla giggled and responded with her joy that this day was finally here, and how she'd waited over ten years for him after he was kidnapped, and how she'd always believed he would return. "I never thought I'd be here, marrying this girl I met so long ago...but I'm so damn happy that we're together and...and that you never gave up on my dumb ass." The audience 'awww'ed at that when the two hugged.

Seb launched into an extremely sappy and long soliloquy about how Wanda was 'the shining light within the darkness of my depression and loneliness' that made Wanda flush and whine 'It wasn't that dramatic!' While Wanda talked about how Seb had opened her eyes to her abusive boyfriend who had only been using her, and how she'd never been so happy, or dated any man who was as sweet and attentive as Seb was. "I'm going to cry...my makeup is going to get ruined…" Seb covered his mouth. Wanda held his hand and gently kissed it, and the audience 'awww'ed' again, louder this time. (Mom)Linda, watching with tears streaming down her face as she hugged Elijah's arm, was sobbing about her baby Seb. (Therapist)Linda had come too and was so incredibly proud.

"Well, we've heard very touching speeches, from two couples who have been together, loving each other since they were very young, but it would be nice to hear what their children, product of that love, have to say."

Mabel snickered at that. Hah.

The nanny handed Dillon Diego and the twins as the front tables of the immediate family walked to the front. Everyone melted at how adorable the toddlers looked with their suits and dress. "Zoe, Zully, what do you think about mommy and daddy getting married?" Seb asked them and crouched next to them to hold the microphone to them. Zully shrugged "I dunno." they said before closing their eyes and sticking a thumb in their mouth to bite. It made people coo and laugh, and Zoe hummed. "It's nice. You look pwetty and happy, and that make me vewy happy too." She said and the crowd was shedding tears of adorableness. "And what about you, Diego? About your mommy and daddy getting married?" Diego looked up at his Uncle Seb before looking at his mom and dad, who were grinning tense and hoping he didn't say something inappropriate or embarrassing. This was going to be recorded.

"Um…I'm-I'm happy too, like Zoe...but I want dinneh." Diego admitted, with the sincerity only a toddler had. The place erupted with laughter and applause for the brave babies. Stan was given the microphone and then he puffed his cheeks at Dillon. "And you, baby? What do you think about mommy and daddy getting married?"

More laughter. People were having too much fun with this. Even the civil servant snorted softly as he tried to keep his composure. Dillon rolled his eyes but grabbed the microphone. He wasn't a guy who liked to be under the reflector, it made him really nervous to be stared at, that's why he didn't like acting, but this was something very important. "Well...Um, I...I think it's...pretty amazing that...you're here...first of all...I-I was starting to think I'd never see you and-and now I'm not-not only being here with you and mom, but seeing you get married after-after you were gone for so long, it's-it's actually very-very...nice and special for me and I'm very glad you didn't marry before because now I get to see it…"The teen was shaking a little, and his voice dropped with emotion. Carla stared at her baby with tears in her eyes and even Stanley seemed touched.

"Also, I love the fact that you're getting married along with my uncle because I really love him and-and he was always there for me and-he holds a very special place in my heart...It makes me very happy to see him so happy…" Dillon smiled tearfully and laughed shakily. "I love you, guys."

The place erupted with touched applause and Stan pulled his son closer for a hug and some comforting pats on the back. Seb carefully rubbed his eye. "Oh circles, can we finish this? I'm seriously getting too emotional right now and it disgusts me." Wanda giggled at him and sniffled. This was very emotional indeed. She hugged his arm as the ordainer continued his speech.

Finally, their rings were handed to them. They had been waiting in a red velvet pillow next to the civil servant. Stan grabbed his ring with one hand and Carla with the other. He gently put the ring on her delicate finger. Carla repeated the gesture with her own. Then, Seb imitated his older brother.

The papers were presented to them and they signed with their full names and shaky hands.

"I invite the witnesses over." The civil servant announced. A friend of Carla walked to the front and hugged Carla with a squee. Wanda's brother rubbed his partner's hand (another woman, seriously Junior?!) And walked over to hug his little step sister. He knew they weren't as close as Sebastian and his brothers, Wanda also knew it, but they loved each other despite not being related by blood, and he was very honoured to be her witness. Then, the triplets shared a look when their stupid witness was nowhere to be seen.

Mabel flicked Stanford's nose. "Uncle Ford!" she practically growled, nearly out for blood if this idiot ruined the best day ever. "Ow! Shit! Sorry." Ford scrambled to his feet and rushed off to the front, to the laughter of the assembled audience.

"We regret choosing you as a witness." Seb hissed as Ford smiled sheepishly and had the decency to apologize and congratulate his brothers with a hug. "I'm happy for you two." Seb hugged him back with a sniff. "Sign, you dumb owl."

Ford signed both papers with his neat handwriting and Carla's friend hummed in appreciation at the oldest triplet. Nice~ Maybe she could manage to talk and dance with him later.

Seb noticed how the woman smiled at Ford and shook his head in pity.  _Oh dear. That poor woman. Ford is not a normal human, you'll only scare him._

As the civil servant finished signing the papers himself, Wanda also looked at Ford and, unable to hold tears anymore she hugged him, her head reaching his neck instead of his chest like it normally did as she hung off him. Ford almost jumped out of his skin with that hug. His relation with the blonde woman had remained distantly formal all this time ever since... _the incident_. "Oh, you stupid man...I don't know if it's the emotions talking, but I actually feel like I don't hate you anymore…" She whispered. She also didn't want to start her married life feeling upset towards her husband's identical triplet brother. With how close Seb was towards his brothers, it would be like hating a part of him (the fact that they had the exact same face was also a factor).

"But if you hurt my babies again or even try to, I'm cutting your dick off and slapping you with it." Wanda threatened in a very quiet voice. Ford felt a shiver run down his spine, scared and knowing why Sebastian loved her. "Oh. Ok...I'm very glad you don't hate me anymore, though." He hugged her back. Wanda grinned. "Now and in the future, if you do anything to my children, I reserve the right to skin you alive, kay~?" Ford sweated and resolved to be on his best behavior around the kids. And begin researching a way to regrow skin quickly in case such a thing did happen.

Wanda was very scary.

The civil servant coughed to draw people's attention and everyone stood up straight. The witnesses stepped back and stood close to the couples. The twins and Diego were standing close too, but next to their nanny, and Dillon next to them, but wishing he could be getting a hug from his boyfriend. "Alright. Now by the power that the State has given me, I declare you, husband and wife. And husband and wife, to you as well." He smiled. This was a funny wedding.

A butler approached the couples with two glasses wrapped up in a napkin and placed it on the floor. Stan and Seb, grinning maniacally, both brought their right feet down at the same time to stomp over it. "MWAHAHAHA!" Seb just wanted to DESTROY! The glass crunched wonderfully under his high heeled shoes.

Stanley then pulled Carla in for a kiss and Wanda rolled her eyes before pulling Seb (who was busy destroying) down by his tie to kiss him. The place erupted in cheers and applauses. "Mazel Tov!" The guests shouted. Some people were crying. The little twins and Diego started clapping and cheering when everyone else started doing so and ran towards their parents to get kisses too. Laughing and with excited happy tears in his eye, Seb picked up his kids and hugged his three most important girls as Diego pulled at Carla's dress because both his parents were ignoring him in favor of kissing and he wanted to be picked up as well. A lot of photos were snapped of the happy couples.

Mabel wiped some tears away and turned to look at Dipper and Pacifica, who were clapping for the just married couples. "Please guys! Promise me we'll get married together as well! PLEASEEEEE!" She hugged her twin. Dipper turned bright red while Pacifica rolled her eyes. "Well, I get to decide the decorations." the blonde scoffed.

The two couples smiled at their guests and finally walked over to them to say hi and thank them for coming. Soos, who was sobbing on Melody's shoulder, finally managed to reach his friend and trapped him in a bear hug. "OH DUDE, I'M SO HAPPY!" "S-sOOs! Can't BREAthe!" Seb hit his arm to be released.

"Dude, you have-you have inspired me to do something...Can-Can I do it?" Soos fidgeted nervously. Seb raised an eyebrow, curious. "Yes? Why do you ask?"

Soos took a deep breath before, to everyone's surprise, especially Abuelita who was calmly sitting on her table, he kneeled in front of Melody and pulling out a ring from his pocket. "MELODY I WANNA MARRY YOU TOO!" He all but screamed.

Melody gasped, shocked, and replied with a loud "YES!" Two collective high pitched screams sounded around the ballroom, Mabel's and Seb's.

"OH MY AX!" Seb screamed as Mabel threw herself over Soos to hug his huggable self. "FINALLY! DIBS ON MAID OF HONOR!" The teenager shrieked.

"DIBS ON BEST MAN!" Seb screamed with excitement. He took off his cape (he had gotten enough photos with it and people were starting to step on it) and wrapped it around Soos' shoulder. "I pass you the torch, Question Mark." Soos seemed very touched by the gesture. The people from town around them and even some strangers cheered.

The music became much more animated after that. The nanny took the little twins and Diego with her to finally get the food they wanted and the couples were congratulated by their happy parents before going around saying hi to their guests and taking photos with them.

Stan watched as Seb excitedly hugged a white haired man, who seemed just as excited, and smiled warmly. He really hoped his father was seeing this (since the wedding was being broadcasted on a few channels, as far as Stan knew). He hoped their dad could see how happy Seb was, how the pain he put him through hadn't stopped him from finding happiness with the woman he loved. How it hadn't stopped him from being with his real family...

(Yeah, part of Stan was a little vindictive, wanting Filbrick to see how happy they all were without  _him_  in their lives.)

-.-

Phillip hugged his boyfriend tightly when he finally spotted him. "Baby!" He cried in utter relief. Dillon rushed towards him and clung to his neck with a smile before pecking each other's lips, They didn't care that people were watching. "My parents are married now. I'm so happy." Dillon said, sounding like an excited little kid.

"Yes, and they look thrilled too." Phillip kissed Dillon's forehead. "I'm glad you're happy though." Dillon pulled back and examined him. Phillip was wearing a black suit and a purple tie. "Ooh~ Nice~ So elegant~" The freckled teen purred, which made the red head blush a little. "Thanks...My mom freaked out when I told her I was invited to some celebrities' wedding so she said I had to go with a good suit." Phillip explained sheepishly. This suit was kinda expensive, but now he had a good suit that would last him for quite some time.

"You could've come in jeans and you'd still look nice." Dillon nuzzled into the taller boy's arm. "And have all these cameras record me and then being nationally humiliated when this appears in those rich people magazines?! No thank you." Phillip moaned dramatically. Dillon snorted. How dramatic. "Come, I'll present you to my fam." Phillip allowed Dillon to pull him but he shrugged. "I arrived before you did, I already kinda met them...Mabel wants to be our maid of honor."

"O-oh." That was embarrassing.  _Thanks_ , Mabel!

The 2 pairs of couples finally, after what seemed like hours of chatting and photos, reached their own family. After a photo with them (toddlers included), Seb, Wanda, Stan and Carla could finally sat down to eat SOMETHING.

Carla's and Wanda's parents very casually migrated to other tables and sat down with their family. It wasn't like they didn't want to be with their daughters, but... only those two could handle some much Pineness together. They loved Seb and Stan... separately. Having all the Pines together was...well...

They were too weak to handle them all.

Zoe, Zully and Diego were sitting on the table, wearing bibs so they didn't get dirty as they happily slurped their pasta. "Twy!" They went to grab some food from the buffet and Seb put on a bib as well; he didn't trust himself to not ruin his suit with food. Carla and Abi rolled their eyes but Wanda giggled in amusement.

The teens decided they didn't want to be at the boring adult table (or be with the toddlers) so they went to another one just for them. Dipper, Mabel, Pacifica, Dillon, Phillip, Candy, Grenda And Marius. "The coolest table." Mabel called it.

Seb didn't care, in fact, he said "Leave! We don't need you! We have the babies!" he held up Zully, making the toddler squeal, as emphasis. They started chatting and catching up, talking about funny things from work or their kids. At some point, it was Ford's turn. "So, how's the science Mystery Shack doing?" Seb gave Ford a shit eating grin and Ford gasped. "You! It's your fault everyone calls it that! You've been telling everyone to call the research center that name, haven't you-you demon?!"

"What can I say, brainiac? I love pestering you! Your  _suffering_  is hilarious~" Seb leaned closer and with the same grin growing, slowly licked his brother's cheek.

"AARGH! Why you-" Ford looked at Wanda who was smiling and he took a deep breath. "I wont do anything, because your wife scares me." He angrily wiped his cheek as the family wheezed with laughter.

"Oh~ I like the sound of that~ wife~" Seb snuggled closer to Wanda and Ford, along with everyone not just married, rolled their eyes.

"But seriously, nothing interesting happened in that nerd center?" Stan asked, resting his cheek on his fist. Ford shrugged. "Well, I fired one of my interns. And…" Ford rubbed his hands together and seemed a little nervous. "...he went missing for a month."

""WHAT?!"" Everyone around the table screamed. Ford groaned. "Okay, so… from what I managed to piece together, Mr. Lodge stormed off into the woods after he was thrown out of the Center. And… he proceeded to get lost." Ford got a headache just thinking about it. Mainly because part of him felt a little bad for it. He didn't even realize Tyler was missing until the summer ended and Tyler's parents called the Center to ask about why their son hadn't contacted them in a while.

"What an idiot hahaha~" Seb laughed mockingly. Shermie, being the good younger brother, agreed with him. "Yeah! That's just dumb."

Stan rolled his eyes. "So? How did you find him?" He stopped. "You... _found_  him, right?"

"Was he eaten by the gnomes~?" Seb had gotten hold of a few martinis from the bar, so he was tipsy already. "Did you find his BONES?!" Fire flickered in his hands and Wanda rubbed his back. "It's ok, take it easy." She told her husband.

Ford quickly assured them, "We found him! Fiddleford and I searched the forest, and Fiddleford told me that we should work on tracking equipment, possibly making some sort of directional device that would actually work in Gravity Falls, seeing as all compasses stop working properly in that valley." Ford nodded to himself.

"Not fun." Seb laughed. "So he wasn't eaten by gnomes! So he ATE gnomes! He was in the forest for a month, no?" He growled and gulped down his drink before Wanda could stop him. Let him DRINK! He'd gone TOO LONG without one!

Ford glanced down at his unfinished plate of food. "Eh…" He wasn't sure how to really explain what had happened…

"Well, it was Miss Se , the other intern, who found him." Ford admitted. "When she heard that he was missing, she offered to join the search. And she had a communication device, a more advanced walkie talkie that Fiddleford built, to relay where she was or-"

"So she had a phone?" Stan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, it's not- auuugh…" Ford buried his face in his hands. "Cell service in Gravity Falls doesn't work very well. The signal cuts in and out all the time. Especially once you're in the woods! Fiddleford and I built a device that would be guaranteed to actually work no matter where you were." Ford explained.

Shermie groaned. "Ok and then? Where was this kid?"

"Right. So Miss Se found him. Apparently Mr. Lodge was found by this...um, primitive tribal group of blond haired men who helped him survive all this time?" He said. "We found him living with them, singing in harmony and eating berries or whatever forest animal they managed to take down."

Shermie was so confused. Kari was confused. The other women were confused. Seb burst out laughing. "Sev'erul Timezzz!" He turned around to look at the teens. "Hey Mabel! Remember when you and your friends kidnapped a boy band and tried hiding it from meeeh?" They couldn't. He was amazing and All POWERfUl!

"THEY'RE LIVING GREAT IN THE FOREST NOW! TOTALLY INTEGRATED BACK INTO THE WILD!" Grenda called. "Yeah, but sometimes they still steal trash!" Candy added. "We believe they want the thrill of escaping capture." Paz nodded. "It's nice hearing them sing in the morning. Better than those roosters at the farms."

"That's the only interesting thing that happened in the Mystery Sha-DAMMIT!" Ford exclaimed angrily. Now HE was calling it that! "Well we found Mr. Lodge and got him back to society. I do believe he is in therapy now." And Viola hadn't been sure if she should be sympathetic or amused as shit about it, which she confessed to Ford about before she left to return home. Tyler, with his almost blonde hair, was taken in by the former boy band as they thought he was one of them. Well, at least they did teach Tyler how to sing in harmony? So… that was something?

He should study them more. Their adaptation to living in the wild and behavioral evolution (devolution?) was intriguing.

Glasses of wine were now being passed around. Mabel tried to get some but the waiter offered her a glass of soda instead. "I have strict orders from Mr. Pines that no minor consume alcohol, I'm sorry." The rest of the teens snickered.

Ford grabbed one just to be polite and took a sip. Then he frowned a bit when he noticed something was inside, a little pointy glass thing was poking out of the wine. Out of curiosity, and for science, he gulped down the wine. He saw the pointy thing was a fin. There was a glass shark 'swimming' in the glass.

(It looks like this! xD)

"What?" Ford frowned. Did he drink the entire wine for this?! Dammit!

"AREN'T THEY GREAT!?" Seb squealed. "THOSE WERE MY IDEA! He exclaimed before he gulped down his own glass. Wanda grabbed a napkin and gently wiped his mouth.

"Ok! Enough of this formal crap!" Seb snatched another drink from a tray. "I want to party! I was UNFAIRLY deNIED a mega ultra parteh as a demon!" He shouted, already tipsy. Stan snorted. Seb definitely was drunk by now. What a lighthead.

"Well ' _unfairly_ ' is a bit-" Ford started but Seb continued. "And this gotta be the SECOND BEST~" He stood up, pulled Wanda up and grinned. "Let's go, dance! You can't complain about your shoes becuz my heels ARE HIGHER and you're wearing ankle boots!" He giggled and pulled her to the dance floor.

Mabel, who had taken a poor photographer prisoner and forced him to take photos of her, her friends and Waddles in his suit, gasped. "OH MY GOSH THEY'RE DANCING!" She poked the man in the chest. "What are you doing here?! Are you waiting for an invitation, lazy ass?! Go do your job!" She pushed him away. The poor photographer was muttering to himself, "I'm getting paid a lot for this, I'm getting paid a lot for this…"

The dance floor was quickly filled up. At first, the twins danced with their parents. Zoe was jumping around at first, dancing and singing, and people recorded her because she was adorable. Zully was more sheepish, but with mommy showing them how to do the steps, it was easier. They danced very well, but they weren't following the music very well though.

The twins got bored eventually, and went to play somewhere else with their nanny. Now the adults could have real fun. The lights were dimmed a little, with the remaining lights being colorful and flashing like a dance club. The music was as loud as one. Seb lived to visit the bar and getting drink after drink. He really missed this!

It wasn't long until he was very drunk and was screaming as he danced around. Wanda was worried at first, but realized she should just enjoy this after realizing Seb was dancing in a very suggestive way, grinding and rubbing close to her.

Drunk Seb was amazing.

There was a small break where Carla and Wanda threw their bouquets to the single women. Mabel fought other ladies for one and lifted Waddles in the air to catch it. (She felt so proud of her little pig~) then the party continued. Then Mabel had to argue with the other women about the legitimacy of Waddles getting the bouquet. Since he was the one who caught it and not Mabel, it meant Mabel didn't get the bouquet, and also, Waddles was already married and therefore couldn't get the bouquet anyway.

Mabel felt the enthusiasm of her achievement die down as the party progressed and her group started dissolving. Dillon and Phillip were somewhere making out, her twin and Paz left to talk in a quieter place (or maybe make out too) and Grenda was laughing and dancing with Marius. She was left with Candy, who was playing on her phone.

"Hey, Can-Can~ how about we go find some boys we can dance with?" Mabel suggested with a smile. The two teenagers went off to search but it turned out there weren't many boys, and if there were, they were accompanied by a girl. Mabel groaned as she sat down and swiped another plate of food. "This sucks. What'll it take to find a nice single boy to dance with?" she complained.

"Um… I could dance?" a little voice spoke up and Mabel turned to see Zully blinking up at her. Mabel giggled. "I was looking for boys, but if you want to dance with me, we can do that too, a girls' dance, yes!" Mabel ruffled Zully's hair before taking their hand and having a good old time with her cousin. Mabel also stuffed her face with french fries, challenging the younger twins to an eating contest until they all passed out in the toddler room, cuddled together as they took a nap.

Candy had passed out as well from all the partying and Mabel sighed before snuggling closer to her friend. This wasn't as fun as she thought this would be. At least her family was having fun. Uncle Seb was a little demon in the dancefloor and-oohhhh~~ _Uncle Ford~_ ~

Susan, taking advantage of the six-fingered man drunk state (Seb dared him to do shots and Ford was competitive) had pulled him aside to dance with him. "Heeyy~ She grinned up at the confused man. "How're you? You don't visit the diner anymore!"

"...Who're yu?" Ford slurred, blinking at the blurry woman in front of him. He checked his glasses. Nope! Still there! The world was just getting blurrier.

"I'm Susan! We know each other!" Susan didn't let this bother her, the man was clearly having trouble seeing straight.

"We do?" Ford giggled. "Then hii~" He waved and looked at his hand. "Wooaahh! I have seven fingerss nooww!"

Drunk Ford was less self conscious. He was dancing with Susan, as she squealed at the attention. At some point, the two leaned closer, and Susan saw her victory secured when her lips brushed his, but her dance partner was abruptly pulled away from her. No!

"Woahh! Easy cowboy!" Stan laughed as Ford giggled and leaned against him. "I was dAncing!"

"Yeah, I can see that, but stay close huh?! I  _know_  you wanna get laid! But at least be conscious when that happens, am I right?! Stan barked with laughter. It took him, and Shermie surprisingly, a lot to get drunk, so they promised to watch their brothers in case they did something stupid that they'd regret later.

Ford blinked, a bit of sanity coming through. "Laid…" he shook his head. "No… that… what?" Ford wasn't quite sure what was going on anymore. The room was spinning, the lights were flashing and the pounding music made it hard to focus. Stan rolled his eyes. "Look. There are women there. Women who just wanna dance, probably, and don't have a fixation on you. So go there and be a good boy."

"Don' wanna!" Ford whined. Stan held him by the arm, cursing Seb for daring this poor soul to do shots (though it was pretty amusing to watch him like this) and slowly took him to a table. "Ok, stay there and don't move until...you feel better." He told Ford gently. "OK~" Ford hummed as he slumped over onto the table, head in his arms. (Susan cursed her luck in the background.)

Before everyone noticed, it was morning already. Many people have left in the middle of the night, but the closer family and closest friends decided to stay. The teens, who had no option but to stay as their parents were here, all crashed in the twins and Diego's room, either on the floor or a couch. It was Mabel and Candy's idea. Phillip even stayed because his parents said there was no way they were getting close to that wedding, too embarrassed for it. They all settled in to sleep the night away.

Seb opened his eye the next morning and whimpered. "AAhhhhhhh!"

Last night was CHAOTIC...He loved every second of it…

His head pounded and he whimpered again but the sweet groans of everyone else coming back to life comforted him in his pain. Wanda was groaning on his chest, the two sleeping on a couch. Seb rubbed his eye. He sniffed the air. Oh right~ Breakfast was going to be served. His head pounded again. Where were his kids? He totally ditched them yesterday. Seb snuggled back. No. He was tired. And cold. Wanda was wearing his jacket.

And Seb got the feeling he was forgetting something important, he couldn't think of it right now though, between his pounding headache and half asleep state...

Wanda groaned as she woke up. "Uugh…" She was a little annoyed. She just got married last night and then her husband passed out from drinking and she didn't get to have her wonderful wedding night like she'd been looking forward to. Well, it was fine. They could just have their wedding night fun in the morning instead... She could feel Seb stirring and leaned up to kiss his chin. "Morning light weight~" She teased. Seb groaned. "Too loud…"

"Awww~ is my widdle Sebby hurting from a hangover~?" Wanda giggled as she got up, groaning at her back, sleeping on this couch was a bad idea. What had she been thinking? They had a perfectly good bed several rooms over! Seb whimpered. He forgot the other reason why he didn't drink much. Owie...

"You're too loud…" He groaned.

"DAAADDYY! MOMMY! YOU SLEPT WITH YOUR CLOTHES ON!" The twins, whose nanny dressed them in Pjs last night, ran towards them screaming. " **AAAAAHH**!" Seb whined and held his head. Too loud! Brats were too loud!

"We'we hungwy." Zully yawned. Wanda, who was in a better state than Seb, took them to get food from the buffet. Seb looked up and rolled off the couch before he crawled over to Ford, who was still sleeping on the table. When he was closer though, he heard him whimpering.

_Nice. Suffer with me, brother!_

"I hate you…" Ford rubbed his head and Seb massaged his temples. "Don't worry, I'm hating myself too right now."

The people who stayed the night flooded back to get food. The teens looked tired as fuck, disheveled and the girls were barefeet. Stan met with his brothers and grinned at them, looking much better than them. "Hello~" Stan said cheerfully.

"Why aren't you looking like shit?" Seb complained.

"Because I wasn't a drunk ass last night and didn't decide to fall asleep on a couch or the table like an idiot...Would have woken you up but~ you looked soo comfortable there~" Stan, like a dick, grinned.

Seb and Ford flipped him off with double fingers.

Stan chuckled and patted Seb's back before whispering. "I'm sorry you missed your wedding night, pal. Wanda must not be very happy about it."

Seb gasped horrified, eye widening. OH. NO. Wanda wasn't going to have pity on him for this...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:) Seb has a rogue future ahead~  
> Please comment! We love hearing what you think!


	16. Chapter 15: Life and love progress ever onward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello people, hope you enjoy this beautiful chapter we did for you

Soos' wedding was something much smaller and less of a spectacle, held in Gravity Falls. Still, it was an absolutely delightful event because he spent it with his family and friends. Seb had made his friend's suit as a present ("The best one you'll have, kid!) and when he spoke to Soos and Melody's family (much to Wanda's embarrassed amusement) he introduced himself as "Soos' best friend in the entire world, you can say I adopted him spiritually and taught him everything he knows. He's basically my brother, you know? I raised him!"

Soos didn't mind, in fact he felt so loved and appreciated with Seb's kind words, even if he knew he was trying to draw attention to himself, he was very dramatic, he needed attention to survive.

The ceremony was held in the open air, because the weather was much nicer, and it went amazing! Melody looked pretty in her dress and Soos looked very well dressed and handsome...After Seb groomed him, combed his wild hair and for the love of Ax, forced him to properly shave those scant few hairs on his chin.

Seb shed a tear as Mabel and Dipper cheered happily for their old friend. They were so proud of him. "Oh, I think it was just yesterday when they had a date fighting animatronics and a murderous video game girl~" Mabel sniffled.

Seb cried a little and noticed his triplets were very happy as well. Stan and Soos clicked incredibly well after returning from the portal and stayed in contact (there were things Seb guessed just didn't change, he caught Stan mentoring Soos at times, unconsciously acting almost like a parental figure for Question Mark) and he was holding back unmanly tears and claiming he was getting an allergy.

Meanwhile, as surprisingly as it sounded, Ford was smiling at his  _friends_. That's what Seb called progress! First Ford thought Soos was a gopher, then Soos became an unwanted housemate and babysitter to make sure he was satisfying basic human needs, like food or sleep, along with Melody who visited regularly, and now the three were friends!

Seb wouldn't say he wasn't a little jealous, because he was, Soos had been his friend before, but he was happy his big bro had people he could rely on too. They cared even more about Ford's health and wellbeing now, they watched his mess of a brother while Seb and Stan couldn't, and because they were closer and there was more trust, Melody could snap at him or scold him!

"Now, I pronounce you, husband and wife~ You may kiss the bride~"

"Soos! Soos! Soos!" Seb and his twin niblings started cheering before Stan and Ford joined as well. Wanda and the twins clinging to her, rolled their eyes.

Wendy, unfortunately, couldn't make it to Seb's wedding, but they saw each other in Gravity Falls for Soos's wedding and she gave Sebastian the tightest hug she could give her former boss. "I'm sorry for not being there, man!" The young red-haired woman apologized profusely but Seb waved it off. "It's ok, Red, I'm not angry. What've you been doing?"

"I had an important exam." Wendy shrugged.

"You're studying?!" Seb gasped. "Yup! Cool, ain't it?" She didn't elaborate and Seb didn't plan to intrude and ask her about it unless she wanted to share. The two talked a bit, Wendy cooed at the blonde twins, talked with them and after Zoe asked, she offered to teach her how to use an ax, but only when she was older. Wanda didn't think she liked the idea of her already hyperactive daughter being able to use an ax…

Aside from that, and Waddles trying to eat the wedding cake, the wedding went perfectly.

-.-

The days kept progressing. The country was passing through some protests and movements against the...questionable person running the country… (Shermie was horrified to learn that Shlump won.)

But Zoe and Zoe didn't know about that. They were almost four, they had other things to worry about.

Like preparing their dolls for a very busy work day!

Because mommy was mean and didn't want to buy them cool doll sets because they had to "use their imagination" or something just as silly, the little twins had to create their own stuff. They used cardboards and papers and boxes and many recycled materials to build their stuff like little chairs and tables and food for their dolls.

Seb helped them a lot, but in their minds, they did it themselves!

Their dolls, a boy and a girl, were going to work as doctors, but first both needed to get their hair done at the hairdresser. They sat them in their chairs and leaned their heads on a cut bottle of water, working as a lavatory, so an imaginary worker washed both their heads. They had their mom and dad as reference, so both their dolls got pretty together with no problem.

Zoe grabbed a car toy they had as Zully finished dressing the dolls. "Can they get run over now?!" She asked her twin.

"NO!" Zully whined loudly and hugged the dolls to their chest. "YES!"  **"NOOOO**!" The child shrieked loudly.

"Hey, keep it quiet or I'm putting you in a closet!" Seb empty threatened from his work room.

They made an agreement. After the dolls work saving many people, one of them would have an accident and lose an arm (Zoe was so excited to rip an arm off her doll) but then with cool technology like their Uncle Sixer have, she got a new metallic arm (Zully wrapped the pulled arm in tinfoil before they taped it back on.)

They were being very loud in their game and knew they were louder than allowed because dad came out of his work room to scold them. "Seriously! I'm working!" Dumb adorable brats.

"But we're pwaying." Zully explained as Seb grinned. "Welp, not anymore." He levitated them and sat them on the couch to watch a movie. After seeing the destroyed barbie, Seb put on A Toy's Life. "So you learn to take care of your shite." He told them seriously. These brats! He bought them toys and they didn't appreciate it! They didn't know what was like to have  _nothing_ at all...

The twins quietly watched the movie until before the main characters were taken to the villain's house. Because at that point they got hungry. They called daddy, but he was working and really had to finish the suit (because a very important and handsome man paid him for it). So the twins decided to get food themselves.

There were fruits in perfectly reachable distance, but they didn't want that, they wanted real snacks. The best thing they found was cereal, but they couldn't reach it. Zoe puffed out her cheeks and raised a hand to wave at the cereal and candy bars she could see peeking out from the top shelf. How did daddy make that work? The floaty thing? Zoe knew she and Zully could do it too! She'd seen it! She'd done it before! Zoe waved her hand and hissed, squinting at the candy as she tried to make the floaty thing happen. But she couldn't get it. Zully glanced over at their twin's face. "You look like you need to poop." was Zully's only comment. Zoe made a frustrated sound. "Mm not pooping!" She shoved Zully a little, impatient at her own lack of progress. "I wanna floaty thing the candy!" She pointed up.

Zully tilted their head at the food. "But… how?"

"I don't know!" Zoe stomped her little foot. Daddy made it look so easy!

Zully held their own hand up and tried. There was some feeling there. A strange warm feeling. But instead of making the candy float, their hand caught on fire. Zully groaned and shook their hand. The blue fire wouldn't go out. Zully wasn't scared or anything, it didn't hurt at all. Zoe stared at her twin's hand. "You on fire." Zoe pointed out. Zully groaned. "I knooooow."

Zoe grinned. "Burn something." her eyes glinted with mischief.

Zully rolled their eyes, much like their mom did whenever daddy said something silly, and they climbed to the sink to put their hand under the water. They didn't want to burn anything after all. When their hand was back to normal, the child turned off the water and climbed down the stool with a hum. "We can use the stool to get candy!" They said, rather reasonably. Because basic logic!

Zoe gasped. "Yeah! And I carry you!" That made Zully change their mind. Nope. There was no way the two were climbing the stool at the same time with no support. THAT scared them. "I…" Zully gripped onto their shirt and wiggled. "I don't wanna fall."

That made Zoe pause. She didn't want Zully to fall either. "Ok, no carry. But… climb?" She didn't think they'd be able to reach, even with the stool. Zully frowned in thought and then looked around. Wait. "Stick!" Zully said with a grin. Zoe seemed confused. "Stick?"

And then Zully went back to their arts and crafts area to get the paper and tape. Zoe sat and watched her twin curl up the paper into a thin tube, a stick, and tape it shut. Then they made a second one, and a third, and taped them all together, making a long stick made of rolled paper. Zoe gasped. "How you know to do that?!" She shook Zully in her excitement. Zully shrugged. "I…" They frowned. They'd seen it before. Making things with paper. But… they weren't sure where. Maybe on TV. Zully looked down at the paper. They just knew that if the paper roll was smaller… if they pinched it just right… it would curl… and then…

Zully shook their head. Whatever. The candy was more important right now.

The toddlers ran back to the kitchen, the movie on the TV played on, ignored by the two of them as they focused on getting sweets. Armed with the paper pole in hand, Zully reached up with it and poked at the candy container. It was a large orange Halloween plastic pumpkin that their daddy saved the candy in. A few candy bars were just laying around on the top shelf too, but Zully wasn't after them. Zully wanted the whole container. Because Zully knew their sister would want to get more candy after eating one bar, so they thought it would be faster to just grab the whole container.

So they jabbed at the container and it wobbled before finally falling. Zully squeaked and flinched. When they opened their eyes, not having been hit or hearing the container hit the ground, Zully saw the container glowing green and Zoe's wide grin. "I made it float!"

The older twin gasped and tentatively poked the floating pumpkin. It...it was ACTUALLY floating! Like Daddy did! Zully looked at Zoe who was wiggling with excitement, with her arms stretched. "How you doing it?!"

"Don't know! I-I just really didn't want it to hit you…" She shrugged. Zully smiled gratefully at their twin before grabbing the container. As soon as they had it, the green glow disappeared.

Zoe actually had an idea. She tore the long stick Zully made, crumbled it and threw it at her twin. She tried to stop it before it hit Zully but it didn't work. "OW!" Zully complained and rubbed their eye.

Zoe shrugged. Welp, it didn't work. "Let's go watch the movie before dad sees!"

"Before dad sees what~?" Seb drawled, hands on his hips.

The twins screamed and Zully hid the container behind their back. Not that it helped, Seb could see it clearly. "How'd you guys get that?!" Seb gasped. That was HIS candy stash!

Zoe looked at Zully and they nodded. They knew what to say. Zully opened their mouth. "Zoe floa-" "IT JUST FELL! Because a squirrel entered and we chased it but then it escaped and made the candy fall!" Zoe said loudly.

Zully narrowed their brown eyes in confusion. Apparently they didn't think the same...

Seb rolled his eyes and took the container from them. Blood and flesh or whatever, but this was  _his_  candy! The twins pouted sad as their effort was wasted.

Zully nudged their twin and asked dad, "If we tell the twooth, can you give us candy?" Zoe pouted. But telling the truth was no fun.

"I can think about it…" Seb grinned, amused.

He wasn't giving them shit~ Mwahahaha!

"I made it float." Zoe confessed. "Like your floaty thing! But it was gween! And...it was very hard! I saved Zully. Can we get candy now?"

Seb thought about it. He wouldn't believe them if it was any other lie...But this did not sound fake, it was too specific and the twins have NEVER asked him how he made things float or if they could...It would be the last thing they would think about.

Besides, he'd already seen them manage it once. When Zoe managed to slow down Zully's fall down the stairs. So… perhaps they were finally old enough to begin learning to use their powers?

"You-You really floated it?" He examined his container and sniffed it. It did smell different from his own weird magic… Zoe's powers were green? Hm… his own powers tended towards yellow...

"Alright then. You guys are probably old enough for training now. If you're already floating stuff." Seb nodded to himself. "So how about this, if you guys can float this spoon-" Seb pulled out a few spoons from the drawer, "Then I can give you one piece of candy for each spoon you can pick up with your mind."

The twins gasped. So they just had to float spoons and then dad would give them candy?! The two immediately turned to the pile of spoons and started glaring at them, trying to make them float. Seb snorted quietly to himself. Well, this was ONE way to keep the twins occupied and quiet while he worked. The two were concentrating so hard they didn't even notice their dad slip out of the room with his candy stash in hand, munching on them already.

-.-

The twins rubbed their little heads, they were throbbing, but they had to make that spoon float like daddy did or else they wouldn't get candy!

They didn't tell their daddy their heads were hurting, they really wanted to do it!

...But...it was also hurting a lot…

They whimpered softly and with ashamed, sad looks on their young faces, they went to look for their daddy to help them stop the pain. They didn't want candy anymore...

"Da-Dad…" Zoe sobbed when the two were by the door.

Seb casually spinned in his chair and laughed. "And? How many spoons could you lift?! No candy for...you then…" He trailed off when he saw the twins were crying and rubbing their heads and noses.

They were  _bleeding_.

FUCK! "I-I am so sorry, I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry, shit!" Seb gasped and picked them up. He wiped their little noses with his sleeve, not caring at all about ruining it. He should have known! How  **stupid**! HE bled when he first practiced with his powers as a grown up, his twins were just babies!

"It hurts…" Zully sniffled. Seb hugged them to himself. He hurt them. This was his fault. He checked them rigorously, making sure they weren't more hurt because of him…They were fine. It was just a little bit of blood...but still. "Y-yeah...I know...It-It happened to me too...I'm sorry. It won't happen again, ok? I'm sorry...No more ouchies…" He kissed their foreheads and nuzzled them.

Zully rubbed their nose and cuddled against their dad's chest. They didn't want more ouchies. Their head hurt a lot! "Is something hurting now?" Seb asked as he kissed their foreheads.

"Head." Zully complained. Seb sighed, feeling like a terrible dad. How could he have been so careless! The twins were growing up, their brains were developing, that's why they could start moving stuff, but they were just 3, almost 4! Their brains needed more connections, to be more mature before trying this again or it would hurt with the effort. He didn't want them to hurt.

"I'm sorry...I'll make dinosaur nuggets." As an apology gift.

"With fwies?!" Zoe gasped. "Sure~" The two giggled weakly (their pounding headaches dulling their joy somewhat) when Daddy blew a raspberry on their bellies and tried to nibble them too. "I'm really sorry." He apologized again. "It's ok! It doesn't hurt as much anymowe!" Zoe exclaimed. "I want fwies."

They ate their yummy junk food snacks before they started getting tired. Despite their complaints, Seb managed to make them fall asleep for a nap. They would need it, after he stupidly let them get hurt…He stayed with them for a bit more before going back to work.

That's how Wanda found them when she arrived from work. She was actually earlier than normal and was coming home with an expression that could be written as a combination of nervousness and excitement.

""Mommy!"" "Wands!" The three excited Pines welcomed the woman. Seb in the entrance and the twins when their mom kissing them woke them up. "Hello~" Wanda cooed at her babies and kissed each one of them.

"You look happy." Seb commented as the blonde woman kicked her shoes off and sighed in relief. The twins imitated their mommy taking off their socks! Bye ugly socks! Free feet!

"Well I AM!" Wanda bit her lip with a grin. She pulled Seb for a kiss and it lasted until neither of them could breathe. Zoe and Zully let out a loud ""EEWWWW!""

"What happened?" Seb asked, he was very curious now.

"Well~ I didn't tell you because I wasn't sure about it, I wanted to be sure! So, you know, don't get our hopes up and all that!" Seb's eye widened, scared of what she was about to say.

 _Say you're pregnant! Wait no,_ _**don't** _ _say you're pregnant!_

"So, like, around two weeks ago, I received a call and I was offered a  _very good_ job...Um, I thought about it for a while, I wanted to weigh the pros and cons about changing, for me, for you and the kids…"

Seb nodded slowly. "And~Did you choose something already?"

"Well~I think it's a very good opportunity for me...I'd get paid more and this Law Firm is a LOT more prestigious, you know?" Wanda smiled sheepishly. Seb rolled his eye. "So you accepted or not?! Come on, you're killing me with the suspense! Just tell me already, woman!"

"I...Yes! I-I accepted it!" Wanda squealed and Seb laughed excitedly. He picked her up to hug her tightly before giving her a congratulation's kiss. "I'm so proud of you, Wands." He whispered. Wanda, always thinking of ways to have  _fun_ with her husband, whispered back. "You can congratulate me in other ways too, you know~"

"What happened?!" Zully demanded and Wanda smiled. "Mommy got a new job!" ""YAY!"" The twins hugged their mommy's legs, and when she bent down to hug them back, kissed her cheeks. "You'll kick more bad people's ass?" Zoe asked innocently and Wanda raised an eyebrow at Seb. She had to admit that neither of them had the best censorship in the world, and they cursed a lot in front of the kids, but she couldn't believe Seb described her job like that to the twins!

"Yes she will!" Seb nodded, not seeing a problem here. "So~ Is this new job closer to home or it'll take you longer to get there?" The two sat on the couch and the twins climbed to their laps to curl up there.

"Yeah~ that's the thing…" Wanda giggled nervously. "This new office is in Oregon…" She smiled widely. One of the reasons she accepted was because she knew Seb was going to like the idea of moving there.

The brunet's eye widened at the confession and he gaped a little. "O-Oregon?" Wanda didn't see him smiling and that worried her a little. "Um...yeah…? I know it's a big change, but we can find another preschool for the twins and the company already offered me help with moving. I think they've been thinking of calling me for a while, they even showed me some houses on sale and they're in a very reasonable price range…" Maybe she should have talked with him before…

Seb was still frowning slightly . "So...You accepted a job to move to the other side of the country without asking me first if I wanted to move?" Wanda winced as Seb continued. "And you thought I would leave everything because of you? What about my store?"

"I-I know you have the store, but-but I thought you...you barely go and you stay at home to work anyway and…" The blonde was almost sure she knew enough how Seb thought. "-I mean, if you don't think it's a good idea...I-I can travel back and forth or-or, in a drastic case, just tell them no, and it's over, it-it's not really a big deal…" Wanda grabbed his hand. It actually was, because she really wanted the job, but she also didn't want Seb to be angry at her.

Seb, with a slightly narrowed eye, turned to look at the twins, who were frowning at how mommy was feeling. They didn't know, but the twins were able to feel how people felt when it was a very strong emotion and it made them sad when it was a sad emotion.

"Can you go to your room? We are going to have a grown-up conversation." The twins obeyed and Wanda flinched in on herself. Oh god, was Seb really that upset? URGH! She really thought this was a good idea! God dammit!

When the twins were out of sight, Wanda spoke. "Sebastian, I'm sorry, I was very inconsiderate and I really should have talked to you about this before. I just thought it would be a great opportunity for us, we could move to a house, you know how hyperactive the twins can get here in the apartment, and I-I was just thinking…"

Seb snorted softly. With tears in her eyes, Wanda looked up to look at Seb who was quickly losing it. "Hah! HaHAHHAHA!" Seb laughed. "Hey, I was joking! I'd  _love_  to move to Oregon!" Wanda pouted as she angrily cuddled against his chest. What a stupid jerk! Making her worry like that! "Are you sure?" She asked, just to be sure

"Yeah! I was just messing with you!" Seb laughed like the dick he was, and hugged her close. "I'd go anywhere for you, you know?" "But you don't have to do it just for  _me_." Wanda whined. "But I think it's really good! I don't really have to be there in the store, I can go from time to time like I do now like you said, and I could even open another store there! And we'd be closer to Gravity Falls! And to California!"

"Are you sure you really wanna move?" Wanda pouted. "Because I don't want you to do this just for me…"

Seb rolled his eye. "I just said I was joking~! I'd really like to move!" He hugged her tightly. "I love you, I just want to see you succeed and I want to be with you, where we go, we go together…" Wanda was still pouting and Seb narrowed his eye. "Oh, come on! I'm being cheesy enough already! My past self is making me want to puke!"

Wanda finally snorted loudly and laughed. "Thank you, baby." "You're welcome!"

"Why did you send the twins away?"

"I spend all day with them. Give me a break!" Seb exclaimed dramatically. "Now~ Houses, yes? Which one is the coolest?! I want one with a big kitchen!"

Wanda was so glad this turned out better than expected.

-.-

"Dad, it doesn't fit." "Yes it does!" "You didn ask mommy permission." "I don't  _have_  to! She'll love it!" "It doesn't fit"

Seb turned to look at the twins with a forced grin. "Do you really have to rain on my parade?! I bought you your junk food, your mission now is to shut it!" He smiled even wider. Zully opened their eyes as they swallowed and Zoe blinked. "It doesn't fit."

Seb had been tempted today and he gave in to his very hard to resist impulses. They were going to move, that meant new life and new them!

So he finally did what he had always wanted to do!

And bought a freaking $2000 piano.

The prize was very cheap, the piano was worth at least three times that, but despite being a pathetic human with offspring, he still had his old charm to make deals. He'd haggled it down from $5000, which he was quite proud of. A large, grand piano, smooth polished dark wood. Perfectly tuned, sensitive keys that sang under his fingers at the slightest touch… ah~

(Seb miiiiight have swooned over the thing…)

The problem was, the instrument was quite big, and despite the kids' claims, it FIT, but it was… kind of in the middle of their living room.

"It doesn't matter if it  _fits_!" Seb made a duh face to his  _3 year olds._  "We're moving houses anyway, remember? Closer to uncle Sixer!"

The toddlers clapped, excited about seeing their uncle Sixeh!

"And that house will be bigger and there'll be more space to put this beauty~" He patted it softly. "Now hop on! Sebastian will teach you how to play it!"

The toddlers climbed up the chair and sat next to their dad, who cracked his knuckles. "Come on, familiarize with the piano! Feel the piano! BE the piano!" Seb said dramatically to make the twins laugh.

They stared at the white and black keys and Zully tentatively pressed one. Then another one. Then another one before frowning a bit. What was so fun about this? It sounded all weird and the samey!

On the other hand, Zoe pressed some other keys and smiled widely at the nice notes. "Pretty!" She exclaimed. "Wanna learn!"

Seb blasted with Beethoven's Symphony n°5, and when he realized the twins were not understanding shit, he sighed exasperated ("noobs!") and tried to explain the basics and start with Twinkle twinkle little star. Easiest one and the ol reliable song for all beginners!

He started with Zully and he couldn't help the little grimace he made. He played a little part for them, even sang it so they could know how it should sound and slowly guided their little hand over the keys.

When he let the kid do it on their own, Zully pressed the correct keys but it just sounded...odd. Very odd, Zully pressed the keys with no rhythm at all! As if Zully was just repeating the order, not following the rhythm of the song. Seb still praised them, because they did their best.

He kind of expected Zoe to do the same, thinking that maybe their baby brains were too young (like in the case of their mental powers), but he was surprised. Zoe only needed him to sing again and she played it just  _right_. Her little fingers moving along the keys naturally. "Well, well, well, well, well! You're a natural, huh?!" Seb ruffled her hair. Zoe squealed and looked so very proud of herself.

Zully looked worried. What had they done wrong? Sebastian glanced over and winced. "Hey, you did pretty well too. I'm sure you just need more practice."

They tried with new songs and practiced for half an hour before Zully whined, distressed. No matter how well they followed Dad and pressed the right keys, Zoe pressing them was STILL BETTER! They didn't get it! They sounded the same! Why did Dad smile when Zoe played and not them!?

"Zully, it's alright...Not everyone can do stuff on the first try…" Seb winced when that apparently made it worse. Zully pushed away from him and ran to their room. They didn't want to play anymore.

"Zully! Wait, pumpkin, I'm sorry!" Seb stood up, leaving Zoe sitting on the chair, and went to talk to the oldest twin.

Zoe blinked. What just HAPPENED? She glanced at Dad's phone that was left behind and searched for a cartoon to watch. Dad had been pulling up melodies for them to play, so maybe she could find something to surprise him with!

Seb took a while to convince Zully to come out from under the bed. He didn't mean to upset her… "Zoe is more good than me...A-a-and you like her more for pwaying the piano like you…" Zully sobbed.

Seb frowned. But he wasn't comparing them!...He wasn't...was he? "Zully, I despise both of you the same...No matter if you can play the piano or not…" He joked, but it didn't make Zully laugh.

"Baby...princess...I'm sorry if I made you feel that way…" He wasn't trying to compare them, he was just excited Zoe could play too...He-He didn't mean to make Zully feel like she was less...He wasn't like Filbrick, he would never do that...But now he was doubting himself...he had hurt them before, when he just left them to try using their powers without thinking...And now he praised Zoe for doing something Zully couldn't...What if he  _was_  acting like him?!

The thought that he was anything like Filbrick made Seb feel sick to his stomach.

"I'm sorry, Zully. I didn't mean to make you feel bad. I don't care if you can or can't do something, all I want is for you to be happy." Seb sniffled, starting to cry himself. Zully wiped at their eyes. But that didn't change the fact that they were doing it wrong. And they couldn't understand why. Still, daddy looked really sorry, and Zully didn't want to feel bad either, so they crawl out from under the bed and into daddy's arms.

Seb cradled his first born and buried his face in Zully's soft hair. There was so much he still needed to learn. About being a good parent. Because he never wanted to be anything like Filbrick. Never.

"There are things you can do as well...Everyone is different and that's ok...Like, Sixer is very good at science, right? And Fez is very strong and athletic...I draw and make clothes, but no one is better than the other...You can paint, and you're very careful with your drawings and you create very nice stories with your toys." He squeezed Zully like a precious beloved stuffed animal. "Even if you can't do something, that's ok.."

Zully sighed. "Ok...But I still don't get why I'm wrong!" They insisted stubbornly. "Well, maybe you still need more practice. We've literally been practicing for ONLY an hour or so, kid." He chuckled softly.

"I don' wanna try today anymore…" Zully pouted. "That's alright too. You don't have to do it if you don't like it. When you feel like it, I'll be glad to teach you though" Seb assured them.

The two went back to the living room after another hug and found Zoe was still there, playing on the piano. Seb's jaw dropped. Zoe was playing the Puppy Cops theme song. "W-what? How did you-?!" Seb gasped. Zoe blinked up at him. "I just pwess the thing and it makes the sound. So I match the sounds." Zoe explained.

"Kid, that's actually amazing!" Seb laughed. He knew how to play because of his past self, no one taught him, but how could Zoe play it SO EASILY?! She was 3!

Zully couldn't praise their twin. One, because they still weren't in the mood, and two, because they didn't know what was so different from the ones they were playing.

Zully went to watch TV as daddy continued playing the piano with Zoe. He said he'd draw with them later…

That was how Wanda found them when she came back home. She was speaking on the phone with someone but at the sight of the huge instrument in the living room she gasped and hung up with a "Call you later."

"DUDE!" Wanda cried, looking at Seb in disbelief. "I can't believe you- a WHOLE piano?!" She cried. Seb raised an eyebrow. "You'd rather I bought half a piano? That doesn't make sense!"

Wanda glared a bit. "Its gigantic."

"It's majestuous! And we're moving to a bigger house ANYWAY!" Seb grinned.

"Yeah, but you could have told me! Maybe I could have...stopped your idiocy impulse!" Wanda groaned.

Seb crossed his arms over his chest. "Hmph! Like  _you_  told me about your job?"

Wanda rubbed at her face. "So you  _are_  a little salty about it?" Seb shrugged. "Nah, I just really wanted a piano, and if we're getting a larger house, why not? I can just carry it with my powers anyway so it's not like it'll be difficult to move."

"Yeah but you can't carry a whole ass piano to Oregon~! We'll have to travel with it and pay extra for it to not get damaged during the trip."

"...Oops?"

Wanda sighed. The twins went to hug her and welcome her back. Ok. Well, it was done. "How much did you pay for it anyway?"

"..."

"Pines?"

"...$2000…"

"WHAT?!" Poor Wanda shrieked.

"In my defense it was originally $5000! I made an EXCELLENT DEAL!" Wanda massaged her temples as Seb continued. "But hey! Toooootally worth it! Check this out! Zoe, come here! Play for mommy!" He floated the toddler towards the piano. Zoe squealed and kicked her little legs as she was sat down in front of the keys. Wanda raised an eyebrow while Zully puffed out their cheeks and looked away.

And then Wanda's jaw dropped when Zoe played the theme songs for several different cartoons. She turned to stare at Seb. "She…"

"She's a musical genius!" Seb gushed. Then he paused and went to hug Zully. "Which doesn't make you less than her. Zoe has her skills and you have yours. We just need to find what you're good at. Okay?"

Wanda guessed by the interaction that something happened. But Zoe was staring up at her, expectantly and with big eyes. "You liked it?"

"Of course!" She smiled and kissed her forehead. "You've been having classes behind our backs?!"

"Nope! I learned today!" Zoe giggled innocently. "Ill record you to send grandma and grandpa ok?"

"Yay!" Zoe kicked her legs, excited to play again.

Zully sighed, still feeling a bit sad. They wanted to know what they were good at already...That way, mommy and daddy would get just as excited and mom would show grandma and grandpa what they could do...Dad gave the two of them cookies.

But Zully knew they didn't earn it.

-.-

It takes them around a month and a half to prepare everything for their move to the other side of the country. They chose between the houses on sale in a very nice neighborhood and after some visits, the couple fell in love with one of them. It had a yard, perfect for the kids to play in (with a high fence for privacy if the twins started setting things on fire), and a big kitchen! Seb loved that. There were some spare rooms as well which they were already planning to use as guest room and work room.

When Zoe and Zully's 4th birthday came around, and they had a small party in preschool with their classmates (they weren't really friends, but the twins liked presents!), they were almost ready to move. They had paid off part of the house (they'd pay the rest once they were done) and most of their stuff were in boxes.

They visited Wanda's parents, one of the last visits before moving. Mom Linda (Seb still mentally distinguished her from Dr. Linda that way) sighed sadly. "Oh, I can't believe you're leaving…" She stroked Zully's hair as they nibbled on the chocolate cookies.

"Well, it's better for our family, this is an offer I couldn't pass." Wanda said and Elijah smiled slightly, proud of her. "We know, but it still saddens us, sweetie."

"Well, I have lived and worked from far away before."

Mom Linda pouted. "Yeah, but I thought you'd finally settle and stay with us! And you're talking my 3 babies with you!" She pointed at Seb and the twins, devouring cookies together.

Elijah rolled his eyes. "We get it, Wanda...but don't forget to visit us, ok?"

"We won't!" Wanda chuckled.

Their flat was sold before they moved. The boxes had been taken by the moving company and they were finally flying to Oregon. They were moving very close to Gravity Falls, actually, just 2 hours away by car.

The four slept exhausted throughout the entire flight, having it easier now that the twins were older, and when they landed, they stumbled out of the plane, still sleepy. They knew they better wake up, it was early and they had to receive the moving company in their new house.

When Seb stepped out of the airport, he inhaled loudly. "Aah~ I can smell the town's weirdness from here~ It calls me~" Wanda chuckled. How dramatic.

Their taxi parked in front of their new house and the toddlers aaw'ed. "It is more big!" Zoe exclaimed.

"Bigger, language." Seb corrected her. Then he groaned. No, he was becoming like SIXER! Noooo!

They had considered selling their cars and buying new ones, that way they avoided paying shipping. But Seb found out they could actually just have their cars driven across the US to their new home. Stan had told Seb about it, even hired someone to do it for them. Seb hadn't wanted to accept help but Stan told him it was better than selling their cars. As it was a big law firm asking Wanda to work for them, they had given Wanda some help with the move, especially with moving their stuff. They even took the piano for shipping (Wanda had to talk Seb out of carrying the piano above the airplane with them, that was just ridiculous). They had to wait for the truck to come, but they could show the twins the house in the meantime.

"WOOWW! There's a yawd!" Zoe ran around in circles before sitting on the grass to pat it. She liked this house already! Zully was placed on the floor and stepped in front of the grass. They saw a snail on the sidewalk and were going to pick it up when a foot stepped on it with a sickening crunch.

Zully wailed in horrified distress as Zoe cackled with laughter. Wanda picked Zully up to soothe them before shouting. "PINES! Your daughter just fucking killed a snail!" She almost gagged at the sight of the broken thing on the floor.

"Just a SECOND!" Seb was struggling with the key chains which had thousands of keys. "Urgh fuck me which one IS it?!"

The neighbors curiously poked their heads out to see the new family moving into the neighborhood. They were being loud, but they understood moving was a stressful mess. The man finally opened the door and the four got inside.

"Come on, Zully, it's ok." Wanda put Zully on their feet. "Zoe killed it!" Zully, always so sensitive, pointed at their twin who was running around dad in circles. Zully had tears trailing down their round face as they sobbed.

"I know, I know sweetie, I'll talk to her about it ok?" Wanda kissed Zully's nose. "But first we want to show you your new room."

Zully sighed, nodded and grabbed their backpack with their essentials (their puppy toys, sketchbook, favorite colors and favorite book) and followed mommy.

Seb finally caught Zoe and carried her upstairs. He thought it was hilarious and Zully's horrified face was priceless, but he couldn't say it aloud or Wanda would kill him. (...did that make him a bad father?)

"Wooaaahhh! Bigger room!" Zoe kicked her legs excitedly. "Will fill it with my toys!"

"And where would you sleep?" Seb asked. "Under the pile on my bed! Zully can sleep in the yawd!" Seb's snickers escaped from his mouth as Zully whined and hugged a glaring Wanda. Oh, he felt bad for his oldest daughter, he did, but he totally understood the need to  **bother** , it was part of his and Zoe's nature. It was not their fault to have annoyable siblings.

"Whewe are our beds?" Zully grumbled. "The truck will come in an hour, but we can explore the neighborhood meanwhile. Alright, princess?" Wanda kissed Zully's cheek. Zully wiggled their way down and mumbled something Wanda didn't understand.

Their mission was to find a park and a convenience store. They haven't looked for preschools, as their moving was kinda rushed, so finding a close preschool would also be nice.

They did find a store where they bought the twins ice cream. The owner was a nice muslim woman who kindly directed them to the closest park. Zoe said she loved the "towel" on her head and asked why she wore it. Seb and Wanda blushed with embarrassment but the woman just giggled. "It's a headscarf, a hijab, and I wear it because it's part of my religion." Zoe didn't really get it, but she thought it was really pretty and she told the lady this. She seemed quite flattered.

They played in the park for a bit (the twins judged if the games were as cool as the ones in their other park) before Wanda was called by the moving service, saying they had arrived.

"We didn't finish judging!" Zoe screamed, kicking and pushing at her dad to let go. "Don't be a brat, Zoe!" Seb groaned as he threw her over his shoulder. Seriously, his poor mom. He had to apologize again for being this crazy as a kid, he probably drove his Ma insane.

The truck was there, as expected, and Seb saw them slowly discharging the heavy stuff. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Pines. Did you have a nice flight?" The one in charge shook hands with them.

The couple nodded. "Heh, Mrs. Pines~" Seb teased Wanda, she rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up." After that, they spent the evening accommodating everything, shelves, boxes with clothes and kitchen elements, the oven, tables, chairs, fridge, arming beds, the TV, couches, and much more.

"Be careful with that! They're worth more than you!" Seb shouted at a group of men moving his sewing equipment and his piano.

The twins were sitting in their room, eating Dringles and watching cartoons on Wanda's phone. They fixed up their room first and left the toddlers there so they couldn't bother them while they worked. And it  _worked_ , the twins were entertained with eating and watching (or in Zully's case, eating  _or_  watching).

Seb made some lemonade for everyone (because he was a nice, kind human!) and then ordered some hamburgers for everyone to eat, even the workers. The men seemed very confused, no one had offered them food before, they usually ate after work, but here it was this family inviting them to have a break to eat and drink.

Huh.

It was dark when all their stuff had been assembled and moved to the different rooms in the house. Seb and Wanda were exhausted, but they were glad everything was done. Now they only needed to put their clothes inside their closets and they would be officially moved! They searched for the twins in their room to give them a bath and found them curled up on the floor with the video running. They were sucking their thumbs as well.

"Aaww, they tired themselves out~" Wanda whispered lovingly and Seb frowned. "Tired from what?! They didn't do shit around here!" He complained.

-.-

Adjusting to their new house was pretty easy. Seb was used to his old kitchen, but he could live. Besides, this one was MUCH BIGGER and he had many more drawers and places to put his pans and stuff. Wanda was at her new job now, she was very happy about it because she was in a very high rank, and he was very proud of her.

He planned to build a new store here, some other business wanted to do cooperative projects, but for now he had the one back in Pennsylvania in the hands of his employees. He could worry about it later though, because he only wanted to find a preschool for now. It'd been a few days and he wanted to get rid of the twins already. He loved them, but he needed his hours to work. He was working on a dress. His customized works hadn't stopped after they moved, people still wanted him to make their personalized suits/ dresses and that made him happy inside. He had really made it, huh? He was finally recognized and famous for something he loved to do. Matsuda would've been so proud.

The bell rang while he was working and the twins, much like excited puppies, stood up and started shouting. "The door! Someone's at the door! Daddy!"

"I'm blind not deaf, kids!" Seb rolled his eye while laughing. He wondered who it was. They didn't really know anyone around here. He opened the door, feeling the twins hiding curiously behind his legs, and found a woman standing there with a smile, along with a small little girl. She seemed to be around the twins' age.

The woman, with short (and obviously dyed) blonde hair, seemed surprised to see him at the door, for some reason. "OH! Hello! My name is Carol Woods~ We live across the street!" She offered a hand to shake and Seb stared at it before slowly holding it. "Sebastian Pines. We just moved here."

"Oh I know~ We heard all that  _ruckus_  you caused last week~ Not to complain, or anything." Carol said, sounding a tiny bit passive-aggressive. She looked down at her daughter. "Amanda, sweetie, say hi to our new neighbors!"

"...Hi…" The little girl squeaked before hiding even more behind her mom.

Seb blinked and blushed slightly. He didn't want to sound like a pervert who noticed just  _that_  from the woman, but...Carol had big hips and thick legs... So the child could easily hide behind her mom.

With his cheeks burning a little, he waved at the toddler. "Hey~ Hello to you too!" He moved aside so the twins were seen. "Say hi to Amanda, kids." Zoe didn't move, but Zully managed a small smile at the girl. Amanda smiled as well.

"Oh, how precious! You have TWINS!" Carol squealed rather loudly and Zully tried hiding behind daddy once again. Forget saying hi! The lady was scary and loud!

"She's Zoe." Seb pointed at the girl with brown and green eyes. "And this little shy mess is Zully."

"OH You two are adorable little girls! How old are you?" Carol crouched in front of the blond twins. Zully frowned a bit. They didn't like...when people called them 'girl' very much. While Zully was trying to bury their face into daddy's pants, Zoe stepped up, because she was braver. "We'we four." She showed their neighbor 4 little fingers.

"OH! Amanda is also four!" Carol squealed. "I'm sure you three are going to be BEST FRIENDS! You can come home and have sleepovers and tea parties and play dress up!"

Amanda bravely spoke. "...I have dwesses we can play with…" she wanted friends to play. She was amazed to meet these two. She was an only child and had always wanted a brother or sister to play with, but mommy said that she had to 'watch her figure' whenever Amanda asked about getting a sibling, which she didn't really understand, but knew it meant 'no'. So she was a little amazed to meet these two. Twins, her mommy had called them. That sounded so amazing! Having a sibling, not just older or younger, but the same! So that they could always be together and not have to play alone by themselves...

"Well, would you like that?" Seb looked down at his kids. Zoe nodded eagerly, Zully didn't seem too sure. Seb guessed it was because they didn't know her and that's ok. He wouldn't send them to some strange neighbor's house until he was completely sure they were good people. (AANNDD~ Probably spy them a little. For the sake of his spawn of course!)

"Oh! How silly of me!" Carol presented a tray wrapped in tinfoil. "Is your wife home? I guess she is because you are apparently taking a break from work as well! I made you lasagna! Moving is very tiring and I'm sure she'd appreciate not having to cook."

Seb snorted. Wanda appreciated not having to cook indeed. She hated it. "No, actually, she's at work, but thank you! I was about to start cooking."

"Oh, you know how to cook? That's so nice! And you are also babysitting for her!" Carol smiled. Seb blinked. How was he  _babysitting_? The twins were HIS spawn. He was  _parenting_.

"Eh...Actually…"

"Come on, Amanda, let's take this to the kitchen! I know my way, don't worry, houses here are all basically the same! I think you have the same layout, unless you've renovated, but I know you haven't, there would have been much more noise..." Carol entered the house, as Seb watched dumb-founded. "Wait! But I don't- nevermind you're already in." He sighed in defeat as the woman strode right inside his house like she owned the place.

Carol left the lasagna on the counter and smiled at the toddlers. "Hey, why don't you three go play while the adults talk?"

Seb didn't know what was happening. Did this woman just invited herself in? Zoe and Zully shrugged and took the dark brown haired girl to their room. A new friend was a friend after all.

Seb awkwardly pulled out some crackers and juice to offer to his unexpected visitor. He wasn't sure what was going on, but mama didn't raise no impolite bitch. (Well, actually, kiiiiiinda? But Seb didn't want to make enemies THIS early on. He should at least live here for a year before pissing off the neighbors!)

"Our kids seem to be getting along very well!" Carol commented as she immediately started eating the offered food. Seb looked in the direction they left. "The twins like making friends."

"So, you said your wife was at work, yes? What does she do for a living?" Carol asked curiously. "She's a lawyer!" Seb exclaimed with a proud smile. "A penalist specialized in gender, family violence and sexual assaults! I told Wanda, that's her name by the way, to apply to be a judge, but she prefers being closer to her clients and being in the field, you know? We actually moved here because she was offered a better position here!" Sebastian was so proud of her.

Carol gasped softly. "Really?! But what about  _your_  job? Are-Are you unemployed?!"

Seb chuckled. "No. I work from home. I'm a designer...slash tailor, and well, I have a store back in Pennsylvania but it doesn't really need me there. I can ship anything out as needed." Carol asked for the name of his store and quickly searched it on her phone. "Oh! Yes! I have seen the logo somewhere!"

Seb beamed with pride.

Carol then giggled. "It's funny. You and your wife have like, inverted jobs."

The former demon wasn't very sure how to respond to that. What did that even mean? He just laughed, because he learnt to do that when he was nervous. "Well...What about you? You have a partner?" After all, Seb wouldn't go around assuming, just because Carol had a kid.

"Oh, yes, of  _course_  I do!" Carol scoffed, as if offended at the idea that she wouldn't be married. "But my husband's working, like usual." She smiled. "He's a supervisor. I used to work at the bank, but stopped working when Amanda was born. Now I fully dedicate my time to her." Carol gushed.

"That's actually very nice. I also decided to work at home to be there for Zoe and Zully." He smiled.

"And they don't miss their mother?" Carol asked, frowning a little. "Well, they do, but we all learnt to live a few hours without her." He joked. Carol seemed actually sad that Wanda wasn't at home. Seb twitched. Why did people always have a problem with Wanda working full time? His Wands loved her work! She deserved to succeed!

Carol pointed at him. "Have you been playing pirates with the twins or something? You can take off the eyepatch now. It looks silly." She giggled.

Seb blinked. Wha? "Um… this… isn't a toy. I'm…" He floundered a little. "I lost my eye in an accident some years ago." It fucking EXPLODED!

Carol gasped, hands going to her mouth. "Oh no! That's simply awful!" She said sympathetically (though her tone made Seb feel like he was being patronized…) "Does it hurt?" She asked.

"...not anymore?" Seb was uncomfortable with this topic. He was tempted to lift it to show her the scars but again, not scaring the neighbors until at least a year.

"Well, I know a very good recipe for an all natural painkiller, I can make you some if you ever need it." Carol insisted. "In fact, I sometimes sell the remedies I make! If you ever need essential oils, I have homemade ones for very good prices!" The woman said proudly.

 _Why would I ever need that crap?_  Seb thought but simply nodded.

"They're very good!" She kept insisting. "When my baby is sick, they work amazingly!"

Seb grimaced in an attempt to smile. "So...let me guess, Amanda is not vaccinated." He was getting that sort of 'vibe' off this lady.

"No, of course not! I gave her one once and it was the biggest mistake of my life! She got a fever!" Carol gasped. "I should have known it would happen! Letting those awful doctors injecting all sorts of diseases into my baby like that…"

 _Oh no~ Her body learning to fight a very deadly virus_ ~  _Great. I have to disinfect the entire house now._  The twins didn't have all their vaccines yet! Now he'll have to take them to get them sooner! Uuugh, scheduling their doctor's appointments was going to be annoying.

Seb's little interest in the woman disappeared after her stupid declaration so he spaced out as she spoke. Um...His work room was bigger in this house...He wondered if it would be more expensive to import his fabric to Oregon instead of Pennsylvania...He had to buy toothpaste too, the twins liked the dinosaur one, but they _ate_  it so maybe he should buy another one…

Eventually, the three toddlers came running down the stairs. He vaguely noticed how Amanda was holding Zully's hand.

_Great. Now I have to disinfect Zully's hand._

"Daddy! Can we go to Amanda's school?" Zoe pleaded.

"We're best fwiends now!" Zully smiled and Amanda giggled madly.

"Oh yes! They should totally go to the same school!" Carol exclaimed.

"We-Well...I have to discuss it with Wanda first…" Seb started, but he knew he was going to end up agreeing. The way Zully was smiling at Amanda, not scared at all, meant that the kid really had taken a shine to her. And Seb wasn't going to disallow Zully from being together with someone that they liked. He would never try to get between his children and their friends, no way.

"Look, Amanda! We have a piano!" Zoe pulled her new friend to the piano sitting innocently in a corner. Zoe climbed to the seat and pushed the lid open. "You know how to play?! I do!"

Little Amanda gasped in awe and looked at Seb. "I can try?!"

 _No?! Your germs will be everywhere!_  "Well, sweetie…"

"Oh, of course you can, princess! Go play with Zully!" Carol picked her daughter up and sat her in front of the piano. Zoe pouted. "I'm  _Zoe_!"

Seb's eye twitched hard when Amanda started hitting the keys with no rhythm at all. He knew she didn't mean any harm, but UURGHHH!

Zully covered their ears at the cacophony of weird sounds (even worse than the normal weird sounds) and Zoe giggled. Yeah! Free playing was fun too! Then she started hitting the keys.

Seb couldn't take it anymore and grabbed Zoe's hands which also made Amanda stop. "Zoe, stop, you're going to damage it doing that." He told her firmly. This was a new piano! HIS piano! He didn't want it to be knocked out of tune already!

"Oh." Amanda lowered her hands. "Sowy, Zully and Zoe's dad." She apologized.

Carol pursed her lips. "Oh, come on~ They were just playing~ that's what this is for after all, isn't it?"

"No, actually. It's not a toy, it's a very expensive instrument. You must be careful with it." He couldn't help the soft warning growl that escaped his throat. How dare this woman decide what to do in his own damn house?!

"It couldn't have been THAT expensive~" Carol rolled her eyes. More growls threatened to escape the confinement of Seb's lips. Luckily for Seb, before he lost his cool (literally, he felt his arms warming up), Carol said she was already leaving because she had sooo many important things to do.

_Ah, thank the Axolotl!_

The twins waved excitedly at Amanda and as soon as she was gone, the kids babbled about how nice she was and how she liked to play with their toys and she said she'd bring her unicorn for an adventure the next time they hung out.

_Great, now I have to disinfect the kids' toys too…_

-.-

"Urrgghhh! Wanda you should have seen that woman! She was sooo annoying! And! URGH!"

Wanda laughed. "Sureee! Like that man you said was annoying because he walked too slow? Or like that woman who bought the last donut you wanted and you SWEAR she laughed at you~?"

Seb blushed. "I'm not saying your feelings aren't valid, you just tend to exaggerate sometimes, Seb." Wanda said calmly.

"But I'm being serious this time! She had this...I don't know, arrogant look and her daughter is not vaccinated and uuurghhhh! I spent the day cleaning my little baby piano and the kids' bedroom!" Seb was ranting on the bed at night, as Wanda chuckled and changed clothes to sleep.

"I bet that was a nightmare…"

"It was! And worse of all is that the twins liked that kid and are friends now, they haven't really made any friends like that in their old school… and I don't want to ruin this for them…" He mumbled. "Should they go to that same school? I read it's good and all but… I had to schedule a date to vaccinate them much sooner, because you know, if they go to that school, they'll be with that woman's innocent time bomb of human diseases~"

Wanda sighed. That was the only thing that worried her. "Um...If the school requires obligatory vaccination, then I think we could enroll them, then we make an anonymous complaint about a kid who isn't and she'll be forced to vaccinate or expelled."

Seb stuck his butt in the air and he hid his head under his pillow. "Urrghhh!" He wished he could just burn that woman and be DONE WITH IT!

-.-

The twins were still whiny and bratty when he went to interview the school himself. It had pre-k, kindergarten and elementary. Unlike the preschool they had been going to before, this was a public school. But if Seb was right (psssshh, which he always was), it was a good elementary school.

Though, it was probably not the best idea to bring them here directly after getting a shot, but oh well, what was done, was done. The school said they had available places and said they would accept them! And they could start next Monday! Hurray!

"So, what if a kid isn't vaccinated? Will you like, kick them out?" Seb asked the principal, thinking about his babies' friend. The woman gave him a sheepish grin. "Well, we require an updated vaccination record, to prevent diseases spreading among the toddlers, sometimes some parents don't follow that. We keep insisting to them and they  _can_  be expelled after a warning period. Especially if other children start getting sick."

"Good." Seb deadpanned. The woman then handed him the papers he needed to sign and fill in the information about the twins. "Well, ignore the partner part, you can simply write your name on it."

"Oh so my wife doesn't have to come?" Seb asked. The principal bit her lip, realizing her mistake. "Oh, I'm  _so_  sorry...I assumed you were single...usually when a parent comes alone...Oh, I'm very sorry."

Seb nodded. Ah, humans and their stereotypes~

"It's fine...I guess I can come in with my wife tomorrow so we can both sign."

"Daddy, baphroom!" Zoe pulled at his sleeve, signalling that he also had to leave. The principal nodded, still feeling embarrassed. "We'll be waiting, your vacant spots will be reserved, Mr. Pines."

Seb took Zoe to the bathroom before leaving. That was weird…and not in the fun way, it was the uncomfortable weird! He hated that kind of weird!

He texted Wanda that she had to give her ass a break from work (yes, he wrote that) and come with him to enroll the kids in school. After messaging her, the three went back home. The twins were sleepy, exhausted from crying their eyes out from the shots they had to get, and Seb just wanted a moment of peace in his new house.

But his neighbor apparently had other plans. As soon as he parked, Carol appeared, dragging poor Amanda by her little arm. Seb honestly had nothing against the child, it was not her fault her mom was an idiot.

"Hey~! Sebastian!" Carol waved her meticulously manicured hand at him.

Oh god, no! Why him?! This was  _definitely_  a torture from the lizard. He probably thought watching him suffer was hilarious!

(In the space between spaces, the Axolotl snorted and curled up on himself even more. Did Sebastian really think he'd go through the effort of doing anything like that? He had important -sleeping- work to do!)

"Amanda!" Zoe waved, her exhaustion suddenly gone. Zully rubbed their eyes and waved as well. "Hi Zully! Hi Zoe! I bwought my unicorn this time!" Amanda let go of Carol's hand and the three kids ran inside to play.

Just when Seb had already disinfected...His eye twitched.

"So~ I've been thinking about your eyepatch!" Carol basically guided him to his own house. She sat on the couch and he numbly took a seat in front of her. "Why do you even wear it? You could simply get a fake eye! Those glass eyes, you know?" Carol told him, like he was some idiot who hadn't thought about that before.

…

"I like my eyepatch…" Seb said softly. He'd worn it since he was 14, wearing one had become a natural part of him already. And he'd only ACTUALLY lost his eye a few years ago, and getting a glass eye felt… well… it wouldn't do anything about the scars around his socket. He was quite sure people would still be grossed out to see them. And the eyepatch was his 'thing' by this point. He  _liked_  it.

"Well, you should try it anyway though! People don't go around wearing eyepatches! It looks ridiculous."

Seb rolled his eye. God…Fuck you, Carol! "Maybe." He ended up saying, as a way to placate the beast.

"Where did you go anyway? You already know the area? You just moved in!"

...GPS exists…

"Eh~ I went to enroll the kids at school." She would freak out if he told her about the vaccines. "And well, I don't know  _this_  city, but I used to live in Oregon for quite a few years before moving in with Wanda."

"Really?! You're from here then?!" Seb had the feeling her questions were somehow very specific and personal…Kinda weird, but not...really suspicious. "No, I just worked here, I lived in Gravity Falls, it's a town a couple of hours away."

Carol pursed her lips. "Nope. I've never heard of that place!"

Seb frowned, feeling the need to defend his weird town. "What? That's impossible!" He laughed sheepishly. "The town is actually more popular now and more people are visiting it! When my brothers came back…" That caught the woman's attention and he sighed. Here he went again. "Anyway," Seb sidestepped the whole thing, "One of my brothers is a scientist and he opened a research center in Gravity Falls. It was in the news." Seb shrugged, not really wanting to tell this woman all his personal life. He hoped this would be enough to satisfy her. Besides, if she really cared she could always look it up, there was a website for the Center and everything!

"You have brothers?" Carol asked, destroying Seb's hopes. Urgghh.

"Yeah…It's my triplets and I, and my little brother...whom I still call little for some reason even though he's taller than me and way into his 30s…" Seb trailed off as he thought.

"Oh my gosh! Four boys!" Carol gasped. "Your poor mom! Four sons must have been a handful!"

Seb nodded. "It was really something."

"And one of your brothers is a scientist, you said? That's very nice~ What do your other brothers do?"

"My younger brother works with computers, my other triplet plays football." Seb maybe overestimated how well known the three of them actually were? Stan was pretty much harassed daily by paparazzi, he was a public figure and it was known that he had brothers but maybe not everyone knew him?

And, Seb had been in the news a few times, but he wasn't that famous yet. And Ford's recognition didn't come from the uncultured  _peasants_ , but from the scientific community.

Maybe he didn't look like Stan that much and people didn't recognize him as his brother?

Carol seemed to put two and two together and her eyes widened in surprise "Wait...Your last name is Pines, right?"

Seb nodded and to his not amusement, Carol squealed a little. "Oh my gosh! Your brother is Stanley Pines, right?! Oh my! I can see the resemblance now!" She raised a hand to cover Seb's face a little so she couldn't see the eyepatch. "It was your eyepatch distracting me~"

"Ah...you watch football…" Seb wiggled away from her, flinching a bit. He didn't like unwanted human contact.

"Oh yeah! We LOVE football! We watch the super bowl together! We're TOTAL fans~" She grinned.

"Even Amanda?" Seb chuckled a little, imagining the unicorn-loving toddler screaming at the TV and seeing grown ass men slamming and tackling each other.

"Oh yes!" Carol's eyes were shining. "It's so nice to be friends with FAMOUS people~!"

_Friends? Bitch, I barely know you!_

"You know what would be SOO nice?!"

_That you'd leave me alone?_

"It'd be so nice if we could get an autograph from your brother~ It would make Amanda very happy~She's a huuuuuuge fan!"

Seb grimaced. "Eh... When it's not a specific event for that, my brother usually charges for the autographs…" Yeah, Stan was a jerk, but he kind of got it, it was business. "I could ask when the next signing event it..."

"Oh, but you're his brother~ I'm sure he can make an exception for us!" Carol wheedled. Seb shrugged. "I don't want to bother him. He's usually really busy." Seb glanced around. When were the kids going to finish playing so Seb could make Carol leave?!

"Aww, but it's  _just_  an autograph! It wouldn't take that much!" Carol insisted. Seb shook his head. Linda had told him he had to be more assertive. The blonde woman huffed. "No, I can just wait for the next signing event. It's not all that important anyway." Carol (thankfully) accepted and Sebastian groaned internally.

 _Kids?! Hello?! Can you read my mind?! Please come save me!_ Seb begged inside his head. Sadly, the children hadn't gained the power to hear his desperate thoughts and continued playing merrily with their new friend.

He sighed, bored and annoyed as shit. Why was he even tolerating this woman?! He shouldn't be nice to people, this all just brought him problems! Urgh, he missed being a dick. Maybe he should ask Linda if being a dick would help with this horrendous, disgusting life. Since he went all weak and  _nicey_ , things have gone bad for him!

He glanced at his phone, smiling a little at Wanda's message of "I'll move my ass alright." and laughed. "Well! Look at the time! It's lunch time! I have to make LUNCH! To feed my KIDS! You should probably DO THE SAME!" He pointed at the door. Carol clapped her hands. "Oh I just had the more delightful idea!"

 _Noooooo~_  Seb wailed inside his head.  _Don't you fucking dare! Ax help!_

(The Axolotl muffled his pleas. Wasn't he the one causing his problems in the first place? And didn't Sebastian curse his name all the time anyway? He already brought the man back to life, he didn't have to do anything else.)

"We can make lunch for the kids together!" Carol gasped.

"...Here?" Seb asked, heart sinking and with a trembling voice, feeling he was about to cry.

"Yeah! Where else?! It'd be a nice way for our princesses to spend MORE time together!" She clapped her hands before calling. "Amandaaaa!" The toddlers came running down the stairs and they pouted.

"Nooo! Five more minutes!" Amanda begged her mommy. "Yeah! Pleaseee!" Zully insisted as Zoe pouted hard to convince the adults.

"Oh don't worry, we're going to have lunch here!" Carol cheered.

"""YAAYY!""" The innocent children waved their hands in the air.

"...Yay…" Seb deadpanned. He texted Wanda. "I'm a hostage in my own house…"

-.-

This.

This was  _worse_  than Seb thought it would be.

Zully was grimacing a little, but didn't seem to really mind either way. Zoe was making faces at her food. Amanda seemed used to it and was eating normally. Seb… was twitching in place. Carol had insisted on cooking, as some sort of 'payback' for imposing on him. (Well if she felt bad about imposing on him, she could have just LEFT!)

But… if this GODDAMN woman didn't kill poor little Amanda by not giving her proper immunization, she'd kill her of malnutrition WITH THIS  _DRY_   **BLAND**  ASS FOOD SHE JUST MADE! Seb couldn't stand eating this… this… cardboard anymore. He pushed his plate aside and went to go grab stuff from the pantry. "I'm gonna go get some salt." Seb grumbled. Zoe threw her hands in the air and cheered. "Finally!" Zully flushed and pushed their plate away, looking guilty for wanting daddy's food and not this… bread? No, it couldn't be bread, Zully didn't see miss Carol using any bread when she made lunch.

"Is something wrong?" Carol asked, seemingly confused.

Seb grimaced. "No...But...Well, we're used to more…condiments and…" Fuckin taste! "And seasoned food…It's not you, just our tongues."

"It tastes yucky." Zoe said bluntly and Seb clamped a hand over her mouth. "Shut up!" He hissed. "Don't make the crazy lady angry." was left unsaid. Zoe, catching on pretty quickly for a 4 year old, nodded solemnly.

Carol tutted. "It's healthy for you! Too much seasoning adds all sorts of awful contaminants into the body. Oils and fats will make you break out in pimples! Natural food without any additives is more healthy!"

Seb blinked slowly. "Ah… sure… well, I like me my basil and salt." He didn't have time to cook again (and the food would go to waste if he did that) so he simply seasoned the whining twins' and his own food as best as he could before going back to eating.

To Seb's utter relief, Carol (who he basically smelt how offended she was with them for eating  _delicious_  food) finally left. He didn't even care that she didn't wash anything she used, he was just happy she was gone!

"Dad, why was Miss Carol's food so horrible?" Zoe asked when the two left. "Ah, I don't know...People are just insane, kid…" Seb shook his head.

-.-

Ok.

This was it.

He couldn't take it anymore!

They've been living here for almost a month now and Carol still continuously annoyed him. Amanda came home after preschool to play and Seb had to see Carols heavily made up face until it was time for them to leave!

She was insufferable! She demanded free stuff from him, sometimes made him babysit Amanda, made the twins share their toys, even when they were not comfortable with doing so, and Amanda took Zully's stuffed puppy for days because Carol basically told her she could before Zully finally gained enough courage to ask for it back. His poor baby was worried sick for their puppy!

Today she had commented on Zully's new haircut, which reached their shoulders. She said Seb shouldn't cut it so short because their hair was curly and it shortened the length even more and it made them look like 'very weird, like a boy girl'. Zully had sniffled and said that they liked having short hair more.

"Can't you like, send her to prison?!" Seb pleaded to his wife after his nightly rant about the neighbor. "Like, I've never seen her husband, but he's one intelligent guy! Staying at work all day while forcing  _me_  to bear with his annoying wife!" He shrieked, arms catching up on fire. Wanda frowned. "Well, even if she's annoying, she hasn't done anything… illegal?"

"Wanda, you gotta do something about her or  _I'M_  going to do something illegal!" He growled. "I-I love how happy the twins are with Amanda, they're good friends...but-but I can't really deal with her mom anymore...I...Am I bad? That I'm not willing to sacrifice  _this_  for the kids' happiness?" He gulped down the lump in his throat. "That sounds like something my father would do…" He whispered.

Wanda smiled sadly. "Hey, don't say that, you're nothing like him...You just don't like that woman, it doesn't mean you're a bad dad, you're the best dad!" She hugged him and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Tomorrow I have a day off, I can accompany you and help you with her. Maybe we can clear things with her, tell her that she has her own house and should respect ours...Yes? Would you wike that?" She baby talked to him.

"You'll go insane with her, but sure, we can try…" The man mumbled before hiding his face in her chest.

-.-

"Who are you?"

"Look Amanda! This is our mommy!" Zully introduced their mom to Amanda, who was hiding behind Carol's legs again (but not like the first time) and Carol, whose eyes widened in recognition.

"Ooohh! Oh my gosh, I thought I'd never get to meet you! You're always working~! My name is Carol, your neighbor, it's a pleasure to finally meet you!" Carol looked Wanda up and down, "You're working too much, you shouldn't leave your husband to raise your children for you."

"ExCUSE me?" Wanda gasped. Seb nodded, satisfied with Wanda's shocked expression. Yup. It was Wanda's turn to suffer.

And so, Wanda Friedmann could finally experience what it was like to interact with Carol. She dealt with it with a straight face...but Carol was an ass, not even in court did Wanda have to stand this kind of bullshit…

"You know what would be so awesome?! To have a girl's day! We can take our little daughters to the salon and have our nails painted and a hair treatment, you could totally use it, honey~ You'd look so lovely with a different hairstyle. Maybe go a little more fixed up for your job!"

"...I'm going to work, not to a fashion show." Wanda explained. "Besides, I go to the salon with Sebastian every now and then already." She should probably ask the place she went...to NOT go there.

Carol blinked. "With… Sebastian?" She glanced over at Seb. "Oh, that's very nice of you to accompany your wife."

"Accompany nothing, I need to get touch ups." Seb swept his hair back. "It takes work to look  _this_  amazing." Wanda giggled at him and held his hand. "Oh, and my hands. No one wants to go around with nasty ass nails...I haven't painted them in a while, no?" He looked at Wanda for confirmation. "Um~ Before we moved you didn't have them painted already."

Carol blinked. ...What? She thought Sebastian was a little strange from the beginning, with his unnecessary eyepatch, but...she thought he was  _normal_! Was he… Carol narrowed her eyes a little. He seemed somewhat… camp… oh she didn't want to assume, and he had a wife and children so it couldn't be possible-Could it? But she'd seen stories of married men being…

She shuddered. She just hoped she was wrong! That would be...

They had to bear with Carol and her annoying comments ("there's a  _gay_  couple down the street! Just...so you know") all day and at the end of the day, Seb and Wanda collapsed on their bed. How stressful. "Ok, I see your point." Wanda admitted. "Is my hair really bad?"

"No! I love your hair! I bet she was jealous, as you're ACTUALLY blonde." Seb grinned. Wanda groaned. "How do you even know she's not a natural blonde?"

"Please~ Amanda's a brunette." Seb rolled his eye. Wanda sighed. "You know that means nothing. Her husband could have been blond. Or one of her grandparents...The twins are blonde and that doesn't make you blond. That means nothing."

Seb rolled his eye. "Ok...but then I know because that color is fake as hell." Wanda grinned. There it was~

"You'll see she's just jealous of you because you're pretty whether you're in pjs or a dress, with or without makeup. And I've seen how thick Carol's makeup is, it's practically caked on." He made a face and Wanda chuckled. "Can you imagine her trying to prove she's somehow better than us by showing off how  _well_  she's taking care of Amanda and her husband? Maybe she'll even try to bake something and bring it over to gloat!" The two laughed. "But if her desserts are anything like her food! Bleerrghh!" The man stuck his tongue out.

Wanda chuckled and pulled Seb into bed with her. "hah! What a joke...But well, if something like that happens, you can fake getting a phone call from me to have an excuse to leave the room."

"My hero!" Seb laughed, kissing Wanda's nose.

-.-

Seb didn't want to be right, but he was right. Oh how he hated being right all the time~

Carol was here. With a  _pie_.

Worst of all. She was here, with a pie. On a  _Saturday_.  **God's**   _day_! The one day they should be able to  _relax_  from the weekend and rest from Carol's annoying presence and being left alone! Oh, and her husband was here, a tall slim brunette who was either too blind and dumb to realize how annoying Carol was or was actually just faking everything and he  _knew_ , and he actually  _liked_  her that way!

"Oh, this is my husband, Rodrick! He had been sooo~ busy before but I finally managed to drag him here to meet our new friends~"

Wanda and Seb shared a look before shaking hands with the man.

They had to let them in and Amanda rushed to play with the twins, dragging a backpack with toys to share.

"So~ Carol told me you're brothers with Stanley Pines!" Rodrick grinned, seeming almost kind. "I was a huge fan way back when he first started and now that he's back to playing, I'm even more excited to watch him!"

Seb nodded. "Yeah, he's very happy to be back too."

"Hey...um, is it true that he was...kidnapped?" Rodrick lowered his voice a little. Seb smiled a little, instead of sounding intrusive like his goddamn wife, the man actually had the decency to look guilty for being curious about such a thing.

"Yeah, it is. But we're trying to put that awfulness behind us, you know?" Seb told them. Rodrick nodded. "Yeah, of course."

They went to the kitchen to cut the pie.

"Wanda~"

 _Oh god, no._ Wanda smiled politely at Carol as she got plates. The twins and Amanda were playing and Seb called dibs on the husband. She thought it was super unfair, but she  _guessed_  Seb already spent too much time with Carol and deserved a break.

"So, you know this pie is a family recipe?! My mom taught me how to bake and cook when I was 9."

"Wow...That's very young…" Wanda nodded. "Well of course! How else would I know how to pamper my husband~" Carol gushed. "Ever since I was a child, I dreamed of finally getting married and having my own baby!"

 _Wow...That's so wrong on so many levels…_  there was nothing wrong with wanting to be married and have kids, but the way Carol spoke about it made it seem like she thought that was what all women were meant to do. Wanda nodded again, trying to erase what she heard from her mind.

"When did you learn to cook?" Carol asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

Seb snorted from his place when he heard the question and Wanda rolled her eyes. "Like, when I met Seb? Maybe?" She wasn't really fond of cooking. Her cousins and mom had told her she should have learnt sooner to not live off instant soups and take out, but hey! She survived!

"But it doesn't really matter, Sebastian cooks and he's wonderful at that." She looked at Seb, who was blushing a little at the Rodrick's surprised look. "You cook?"

Carol frowned. "Oh...So let me guess, you can't bake either."

"Just premade cookies~" Seb grinned. "The best ones though!"

Carol gasped. "What?! Oh my, you can't make pie? Then what do you make for your dear children?"

Seb huffed. " _I_  make stuff for our dear children and they love it!" Bitch please, no one made better pie than him! The look Carol was sending Wanda was so weird...like, smug even... Why? Was this some passive aggressive power play against her to see who was a better wife? It totally seemed like it. And if it was, it was very ridiculous. Wanda was the best partner and a perfectly loving mother to their twins. What did her ability to cook have to do with anything? She could heat up Premade food just fine. And the twins had plenty of pasta and veggies in the pantry that Wanda knew how to make.

It went like that for the rest of the day. Carol would point out things like some dust along the windowsill and imply that Wanda was letting her home fall into disrepair by not doing her job as the woman of the house. Wanda was getting very uncomfortable with all this (and Sebastian felt himself blushing, realizing he hadn't been cleaning right even stupid Carol noticed). Even Rodrick looked like he wanted to speak up, but the  _look_  that Carol sent him made the man back down.

Just when Wanda was going to just lose her shit at their neighbor, the doorbell rang and she took that opportunity to escape. "Oh! It appears that someone is at the door. I must go check!" Wanda said with a too wide grin, making a mad dash out of the kitchen. She blinked at the group of people on the front road.

"Oh, hello there. Sorry for dropping by unannounced. We're your neighbors." One man said with a kind smile. "My wife wanted to come by and greet you earlier but we thought you would need this time to adjust and unpack and then we just lost track of time." The man laughed, rubbing his arm. The woman beside him, his wife(?), giggled. "And the longer it had been, the more awkward it felt to just come over to say 'hi' but we finally got the nerve to come over."

"Oh, well it's very nice to meet you." Wanda smiled, hoping and praying that these neighbors weren't like Carol.

"Oh, um, I bought wine!" Another woman smiled and Wanda's eyes lit up. Oohh~

The other two couples there (Wanda would guessed they were all friends), presented themselves, and their little kids. The couple who spoke first didn't have kids yet (they were still trying for kids), but the other had one girl and the last one had an older girl and boy (older than the twins but still close).

Seb poked his head out when he realized Wanda had abandoned him, and noticed the group of people.

WAS HIS HOUSE SOMEHOW THE MEETING POINT OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD?! WHY DID EVERYONE COME HERE?!

"This is my husband, Sebastian. Seb, these are the other neighbors." The crowd cheerfully waved and Seb noticed the other toddlers and little kids. Then he grinned mischievously, an idea forming in his mind.

If he invited everyone in, Carol would feel replaced and soooo offended that she'll stop coming! And if the twins played with more kids maybe they'll become best friends with someone else and leave Amanda behind! So he had no reason to bear with her mom any longer!

Seb gently pushed Wanda aside and opened the door widely. "Oh please~Please come in! We'd  _love_  to receive you in our humble home~ The twins are upstairs I'm sure they'd LOVE to make friends!"

"Are-Are you sure?" "We don't want to impose…" These other neighbors were so much more polite. Seb liked them already.

"NONSENSE! The more the merrier! I used to plan interdimensional parties, ya know?! I'm the King of Hosts! Please make yourselves at home!" Seb bowed dramatically, winking at the crowd with a roguish grin.

"Didn't he mean international?" A woman asked while her husband shrugged.

Seb ushered the little kids upstairs, calling "Zoe! Zully! I'm sending you some tiny human offerings!" and pushed the crowd into the living room, with Wanda watching the proceedings with an amused expression.

Once there, the neighbors met with Carol and Rodrick, who had been waiting there, impatiently.

"Oh, Carol!" One of the woman smiled. "I didn't know you were here, hi~ How are you?" The neighbors said hi to Carol and husband, and Seb was starting to doubt the other neighbors' sanity. Carol motioned everyone to the couches (Wanda's eye twitched at how that woman acted as if this was her own house), and all the adults started talking. Seb's leg was bouncing up and down frantically. A lot of people...a lot of strangers of questionable sanity in his house. They were friends with Carol! She'll like to come MORE now!

At least the slightly more kind-looking neighbors smiled at them and complimented their house, asked general things like from where they moved, their jobs, what they liked to do and talked about the neighborhood, some good restaurants around and places to go with their kiddos. Just simply chitchat that weren't pointed digs into their personal lives, unlike everything Carol asked about.

"The church has masses all sundays from 9am-10am and from 11am to 12pm, in case you missed the first!" A woman giggled as she explained. Seb sighed loudly. Religious people, huh? Nothing wrong with that, but he hoped they didn't try pushing their religion in his face.

"There are activities for the children under 10 while the adults are at mass, the kids like it, they have fun there." A man commented.

"Well...that sounds very nice, but we don't-" Seb started to say before he was interrupted.

Carol gasped. "Oh my gosh, I have an idea!" Seb knew that was a bad thing. "I can take Zoe and Zully with me! I take Amanda early so she can play longer! And then I can take them all back to my place so they can play!"

Seb twitched and Wanda looked at him before smiling sheepishly at the expecting neighbors. "Well, that sounds really nice, but~ we're like, kinda jewish."

Their guests' eyes widened a bit and Seb faltered. "Eh…" Wanda pinched his arm and leaned in to whisper. "Do you want Carol to take the twins every Sunday with her?" Seb sat up straight. "Ah! Yep, total jewish, yup! Very religious guys...Hanukkah...Synagogue...Torah...Shalom…" Wanda sighed and facepalmed.

One man gasped and grimaced apologetically. "Oh my god, and we came to bother you on a Saturday!" He winced. "We're so, so sorry." He held his wife's hand. She looked guilty as well.

Wanda smiled and Seb shook his head. "Eh, don't worry, you didn't know…" He looked at Carol. "But NOW you know for next time that our Saturdays are SO VERY SACRED!"

Carol blinked, too stupid to understand the indirect jab. "So...you're a jew right? So… why aren't you wearing your hat thingie?"

Seb gasped and patted his head, as if he was searching for it. "Oh no! It must have fallen under the wrong idea that all jewish people wear it all the time." He deadpanned, making Wanda snort. Seb huffed. He didn't even HAVE to wear it. He wasn't even religious. He was sure his family only celebrated holidays because it meant eating delicious food and presents!

A few of the other neighbors were giving Carol uncomfortable looks at how insensitive her comment had been. Carol, still oblivious, went on with, "You don't look like a jew." while looking at Wanda. The lawyer bristled with offence. "That's not a-"

Everyone was uncomfortable now. One of the other neighbors changed the subject before things could devolve any further. "Hey, I'm sure the kids must be hungry by now, it's nearing lunchtime. We should probably head home and feed them."

"Oh? I can just make lunch here-" Carol started to say before her husband (thankfully) took her hand and patted it. "Honey, I think we should leave the Pines alone to relax on their weekend." Rodrick said gently. Seb almost wanted to kiss the man in gratitude. Carol finally allowed herself to be pulled out of the house, after calling for Amanda. They (and all the other neighbors) left. Seb groaned. "I never want to let anyone else into the house again."

Wanda patted his back. "Well, Rachel, Huston and the others didn't seem all that bad."

Seb was going to throw himself onto the couch but reconsidered it and went to get the vacuum. No. Purge the strangers' disgusting presence from his house first. He wouldn't lay anywhere until it was back to normal. Ew. So much for sacred saturday, he was here cleaning up from undesired guests...

Wanda sat down and watched him clean. "You know~ You're always complaining how this day is soo boring."

"Well, it is, you're there like a ragdoll and I gotta do everything around here. Not even turning on a light? Seriously? If I obeyed this list of stuff, I'd just go lay there on bed and wait till tomorrow!"

Wanda laughed. "And yet this day saved us from having Carol coming here on weekends from now on, hopefully."

Seb finished vacuuming the couch and hummed. "Yeah. You're right. God bless himself!" He picked her up with his mind and floated her to the couch with a grin. "I'm technically not doing physical work~Poor farmers, they can't work today." He curled up like a cat next to her and Wanda stroked his hair. "I'll sleep here and use magic to pick up the phone to order some food because even  _that_ I'm apparently prohibited from doing!"

Wanda rolled her eyes. How dramatic. He just didn't like rules.

The twins came downstairs and ran towards their parents. "Mommy, we wanted to clean our woom but then we remembered it's Saturday and we can't~" Zoe explained with an innocent look. Wanda sighed and Seb snorted before laughing. Now THAT was a way of using the strict system for your favor!

"We really liked pwaying with our new friends." Zully giggled and clung to their mommy with a smile.

The two parents shared a look and sighed. They'd put up with more shit just for the sake of their babies. Seb would do  _anything_ for them.3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So new characters! All I do to bother Seb's existence~ mwAHAHAHAH! Please comment, we love hearing what you think!


	17. Chapter 16: INTERLUDE DURING SUMMER 2017 Necessary nerd uncle-crazy niece bonding time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! We're back! And we brought fluff!

Before summer of 2017, Seb received Mabel, Dipper and Dillon's high school graduation invitations. _High school_. They had finished high school! Why was time moving so fast? Seb couldn't believe it. Was it because he killed Time Baby? Was the flow of time going faster because of it? Because his kids were so big and his other kids were graduating from high school. He could remember when he first saw them as babies, so small and tiny and wailing nonstop…

He was invited to their  **graduation**. As the seats were limited, only he travelled to California for it and then he'd go to New York for Dillon's. Mabel and Dipper looked so grown up, wearing their gowns and hats and holding their diplomas... They looked so happy… Dipper was given another diploma for being 2nd in his class and Mabel got a special diploma from the school, for being an 'honorable student' which was basically being friendly, kind, getting average grades and doing many activities.

Shermie cried the entire time. So embarrassing.

Mabel finally finished taking photos with her friends and teachers before joining her family which was waiting for her to get THEIR photos. "Aahh! Is my makeup still on?!" She threw herself over her mom, who laughed and examined her face before saying "Yep! You're still fine, sweetie." Sherman wiped a happy, proud tear.

"Oh my god! Guys, I'm so, so happy you're here for us! And I'm so glad Dillon's graduation is next week so you ALL could come for us!" She squealed. She wasn't wearing her graduation gown now, just a pretty red dress and short heels. Dipper was wearing a suit and Paz was holding his arm in a light blue dress. She had her graduation before them and Dipper travelled to be with her.

If that wasn't love, Mabel didn't know what was.

"Of course, pumpkin, we wouldn't miss it for anything!" Stan exclaimed. "AAANDD I came first because I care more and I'm the best uncle!" Seb declared proudly. Wanda and the twins weren't here, so he could be more immature than normal.

Abigail sighed. Oh here they went again…

"Oh yeah?! Who bought them presents?!"

"Please~I don't need to rely on material  _things_  to be the best!" Seb scoffed and Stan said mockingly "Please~! You just can't accept that I'm the best uncle."

"What's Dipper's real name?" Seb raised an eyebrow and Stanley froze. Dipper turned around at the mention of his name and Shermie snorted loudly.

"Uh…Diptholomew! I dunno!" Stan crossed his arms. Shermie and Abigail almost had a seizure from how HARD they were laughing, and poor Dipper just groaned and facepalmed. Did his uncle SERIOUSLY not know his real name after...what?! 4 years?!

Mabel also snorted and was very much enjoying watching her uncles fight over them. That was adorable! She looked to her right, and noticed Uncle Stanford standing there, unamused by his brothers' fight and Stanley's apparent lack of knowledge about their nephew's name. He was keeping his hands behind his back all serious and nerdy and he was alone! Sure, her other uncles were alone right now, but Uncle Ford was always alone and didn't have anyone to love!

Mabel cracked her knuckles. She wasn't an unofficial matchmaker for NOTHING! "Mabel's got a plan~" she whispered to herself…

-.-

It wasn't even a day after Dillon's graduation when Ford heard a happy Soos knocking on his lab's door. "Hey Dr. Dude! Look who came!"

Ford sighed tiredly, stood up and walked towards the door, only to be surprised by the super tackle Mabel gave him. "Hi, uncle Ford! I'm staying here for a month! Or the entire summer if it's necessary! Isn't that great?!" She freed her uncle and Ford chuckled sheepishly. "Oh. Alright, that-that's ok...you can stay here for the summer...if you wish?" When the twins were younger, he hadn't really acted like a caretaker for them, busy with the portal, and you know, panicking over Bill. When his family stayed here he didn't have to take care of his niblings, just be there, everyone did the rest, so he was a bit clueless as to how to do this. Mabel was a teen now though, he was sure it couldn't be that hard to give her food and that stuff...right?

"Your parents know you're here?" "Yup!" "Ok then...I guess it's alright."

"GREAT!" Mabel squealed with a huge smile on her face. "We're going to have so much fun this summer!" Ford nodded slowly and looked around. Soos was gone by now. "Um...are you...alone? Dipper didn't come with you?" He didn't see the boy but he had sort of assumed.

The comment made the brunette girl's smile decrease a little bit. "Um...no, it's just me...Dipper is taking some classes and working and that adult stuff…" Mabel shifted from foot to foot. "I know you like hanging out with Dipper more than with me…" She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

Stanford's eyes widened when he realized he hurt her. "No! NO! I didn't mean it like that, Mabel!" He winced. Ford knew that Mabel and Dipper had lived here for a whole summer, so having only Mabel here should be half the work, right? "It's fine if it's only you. I…" He thought about what to say, what Ashton had coached him on. "I don't know you very well, so… this… is actually a good opportunity to do so." He managed to save himself last minute.

Mabel beamed. "Yes! We should seriously get to know each other this summer!" Her smile turned sly. "And~ I will help you find a girlfriend! Or boyfriend! Either one works for me."

"Ex-Cuse me?!" Ford faltered. This was not what he had in mind!

-.-

Mabel installed herself in the attic. It felt a little lonely without Dipper here, but she had her (not anymore) baby pig to keep her company! "You can sleep on Dipper's bed. He'll never know~" she told Waddles and he seemed thrilled to climb right up and roll around. Mabel grinned and snapped a photo to share with her twin. Dipper responded with a deadpanning emoji and a [Just make sure he doesn't poop on my bed!]

She let her uncle work, just a few hours, until it was lunch time, and went to bother him once again. "Uncle Fooordd~ You can't starve yourself in my presence! I made Mabel Juice! You never tried it but you shooooould~!"

Ford, inside his lab, massaged his temples before taking a deep breath. Fine. Ok. He will accept he couldn't get much work done while his niece was here. And he was SO going to get lunch, he had a cup of coffee right here! But Mabel was still demanding attention and because he was a good person, actively trying to be more social, he would listen to her and give her the required attention.

Ford joined everyone for lunch and Melody seemed very surprised with his tall presence. "Hey~ It seems Mabel's presence is good for you, Ford~!" Ford sent her a funny smile and sat down.

Mabel was quite content at how...friendly Ford was with Soos, Melody and Abuelita. They were housemates! It was so cute. And so, so different from when she first stayed here. Moody, hermit crab to kinda social uncle was a great improvement! She looked down at her phone and the list she had made of all the uncle-niece bonding activities she'd thought up for this summer. Dipper wasn't the only one who liked making lists of stuff. The difference was, Mabel actually knew how to adapt when things didn't work out the way she originally planned. She was really looking forward to addressing the things on this list though...

And that was how Ford found himself roped into Karaoke with his niece.

"Mabel, I know you like singing, but I am not very good at it." Ford winced as he held the mic. He hadn't sung in years, he… hadn't sung since he was a child and his brothers dragged him along to do so. Or music class in elementary school! And… He didn't like it very much...

"Oh, uncle Ford, uncle Ford~ Karaoke is not about sounding GOOD, it's about sounding terrible Together~" Her eyes sparkled. "Besides, singing saves lives!" Mabel shrugged as she searched for the right song. Ford rolled his eyes. "Right. And how exactly does it save lives?"

"When your dumb nephew raised the undead that summer we stayed here, we found in your journal, which you had written in with invisible ink like a big jerk, hiding important information, that you could defeat zombies with a…" Mabel didn't remember the word used.

"A perfect three part harmony?!" Ford asked incredulously. "You fought zombies?!"

"Yeah! We even cured Soos! He got bitten."

So that was why zombies occasionally rose back...He always thought the zombies were a result from Weirdmageddon. But it appeared Dipper had raised the dead… and probably never recited the counter-spell to make them stop coming back, though the magic behind the spell was much weaker now, leading to only the occasional undead uprising. Ford made a note to look up what the counter spell was… and then remembered that they'd thrown the journals into the bottomless pit (he only wrote down the most scientific things in there to publish his research) so he would simply have to figure it out again on his own. Well, it wasn't much of an issue anyway, the magic was fading and the townsfolk had gotten used to dealing with them as well.

Mabel poked her uncle's chest. "Hey! How did you know singing killed zombies? Have you raised the dead too?" She raised an eyebrow. Ford winced. "I did. It wasn't pleasant. I actually found out how to rupture their skulls by accident, I was chased back into my house by them and in the ensuing battle, I knocked over my radio and it turned on. I was quite lucky."

Mabel gasped. "You see?! Saved by music!"

Ford corrected her, "Saved by auditory vibrations within the correct wavelengths."

Mabel rolled her eyes. "That's what music IS! Accept it!" Ford sighed. "Ok. I'll give up."

"Done! I found the perfect song!" Mabel pressed play. Ford's eye narrowed even more as the music played.

_All the single ladies (All the single ladies)_

_All the single ladies (All the single ladies)_

_All the single ladies (All the single ladies)_

_All the single ladies_

_Now put your hands up_

"I'm not singing that." Ford deadpanned.

"Are you a single lady?!" Mabel questioned. "I'm single, yes, but not a lady." Ford deadpanned again.

"You're just scared!" Mabel taunted. "You're scared of looking fabulous!"

"...I'm quite sure that's not the issue here." Ford rubbed his face. "I'm simply not about to embarrass myself by trying and failing to do something I know I'm not good at."

"Chiiiiicken~" Mabel teased. Ford rolled his eyes. "You're not going to make me give in from such childish tactics." Mabel just poked Ford in the side, making him jump, he was a little ticklish. "Chiiiiicken~" Mabel teased again.

_Up in the club (club)_

_Just broke up (up)_

_I'm doing my own little thing_

Mabel waved the microphone in front of the man's face. Ford rolled his eyes. "You're not going to make me sing." He said stubbornly. Well, too bad for him, Pines stubbornness ran in the family and Mabel wasn't backing down either. "It's a bonding exercise. Didn't you say you wanted to hang out with me and bond?" Mabel switched tactics, something she learned from uncle Seb and Stan in manipulation, she began sniffling.

Ford, who was closing his eyes and crossing his arms, looked up at the sad sounds. Despite living in a pawnshop throughout his entire childhood, living with a father like his, with the brothers he had, and dealing with Bill Cipher, Ford learnt absolutely nothing about manipulation.

"Mabel…"

Mabel rubbed her eyes. "I-I just thought we could have a nice karaoke night...but well, I see I don't have anything in common with you, I can't even choose something you'd like to do with me…" The girl sighed and slowly stood up to turn off the machine.

Ford grimaced, not getting at all her sadness was fake as heck. "I-I am sorry, Mabel, I didn't mean to hurt you...If-If this really means a lot to you…" He sighed in defeat. Pines were stubborn, but they didn't want their family to hurt. "I guess we can sing this…" He clenched his teeth.

"GREAT!" Mabel cheered as she hugged him. She felt a little bad for manipulating him like this, but he needed to learn to loosen up and just do stuff without worrying over how embarrassed he'd get from it. If something made him feel embarrassed, that meant he was being held back from living his life to the fullest, right? So learning to get over his inhibitions was only going to be good for him!

_Don't pay him any attention_

_I cried my tears (tears)_

_For three good years (years)_

_You can't be mad at me_

"Cause if you like it, then you shoulda put a ring on it! If you like it, then you shoulda put a ring on it!" Mabel stood up and danced around her uncle as she sang. She didn't know the choreography but she moved around exaggeratedly, moving her shoulders and hips. Ford couldn't help but find it rather… adorable? Ah… he wasn't used to this feeling. Was this… enjoying himself?

He was pretty stiff at first, he really thought he couldn't sing and it's been decades since he sang, but when his attempts to sing weren't laughed at by Mabel, nor was he mocked for not knowing the words, he started relaxing, humming along to the tune whenever he really didn't know the words. Mabel chose many songs from the 80s and 90s, hoping that perhaps Ford would recognize a few.

Mabel's eyes widened as more songs from the  _old_  days played and her uncle got more into it. He was holding the microphone with both hands, very passionately, like when Dipper got into it as well.

He actually sang very pretty damn great! What the hell?! Why would he hate karaoke?!

The next song was from when uncle Ford was a teen, that's what he said at least, and he was smiling like a very happy owl. Mabel recognized the song because it was a meme, but the song was still nice. He hit all the notes perfectly and Mabel's jaw dropped. He was… actually REALLY good. What the actual hell?!

"Never gonna let you down! Never gonna run around and desert you~!" Mabel was quite sure her uncle had no idea that song was a meme. Well, she joined in singing, it was adorable and the song wasn't bad!.

They took a break to prepare snacks and Mabel narrowed her eyes at him with a grin. "You nerd liar! You can sing pretty damn well!" She poked him in the chest. "Why'd you say you weren't any good?!"

Ford blushed and awkwardly looked away. "Eh...It's very embarrassing to sing…"

"No it's not! You're great!" Mabel insisted. "Your voice is amazing~" She wanted to get him to sing together with the whole family now. "I bet uncle Seb would love to sing together with you."

Ford rolled his eyes. "Sebastian  _lived_  singing. I was dragged into it too many times. I'm not-" but Mabel interrupted ''Then it'll be familiar to you! GASP! We should bring back Love Patrol Alpha from retirement in our next family reunion! Featuring Stanford Pines!" She giggled and hugged her uncle's arm. But Ford shook his head. "No, Mabel,  _please_. My brothers, especially your dad, would never let me live it down." Mabel pouted at this, but it wasn't going to stop her from making more plans! Yeeeees~ so many plans….

After they sang themselves into exhaustion, Mabel tried to teach Ford how to braid her hair. When Ford asked why he would  _ever_  need this particular skill, Mabel scoffed. "I'll have you know that ladies love a man who knows how to handle hair." She wiggled her eyebrows at him. Ford didn't get the hint. "...but why would I need to learn this?" He asked again, looking like a confused owl. Mabel sighed. Oblivious! This man really was a hard case.

"Well~ It can be a plus for when I set you up on dates~ Dipper learned to braid and thanks to me, Pacifica loves him!"

"Correlation does not mean causation, Mabel." Ford tried to explain, but Mabel wasn't listening. "And! If you ever have a daughter, which would be AMAZING! MORE GIRLS! You could braid their hair for school and send them off all nice and pretty. Or a son, if he likes long hair, that could happen too!"

Ford's cheeks were turning a bright red. Daughters?! Sons?! The idea of having kids made him feel a little faint. "I-I…"

"But don't worry, one step at a time. First we'll arm you with the necessary dating equipment, then the other  _fun_  stuff can happen, eh?!" She nudged him.

"Mabel, I am not dating anyone-"

"Good, which means you'll be free to go meet up with Susan tomorrow night." Mabel grinned. "I have a nice dinner date all set up~ Booked the restaurant and everything!"

"Booked the- Mabel, what?!" Ford gasped. "You shouldn't make plans about me without letting me know!"

"Well I'm letting you know now~ And I know you're free tomorrow night, I checked your schedule at work. McGucket said that you need to take a break and relax anyway, he said you've been working too hard."

That traitor!

Ford closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He wasn't romantic, he didn't know how to date… "You said...Susan? Like, the owner of the diner?"

"Yup! You know her and she obviously likes you!" Mabel cheered. "She does?!" Ford didn't know that. "Yup! So it's easier! You can have a romantic dinner, dressed all elegant, chat about your likes and all that cute stuff. Open your heart to possible love~ Just use your natural charms!"

Ford didn't know how to do cute stuff! He-He wasn't like Stan who could flirt and wanted to draw women's attention! He had…never felt a serious attraction to anyone, like his brothers have… He didn't have charms...

But he guessed he could  _try_? Mabel trusted him…

"Besides, Uncle Stan told me you almost kissed her at his wedding, so that means your subconscious is telling you  _something!"_

"I almost did WHAT?!" He screamed, face flustered with utter embarrassment.

-.-

Ford was trembling in front of the restaurant. Mabel left him alone. This was F's fault.

This was also his own fault for not being normal in socializing and-and  _romance_ … Ford sighed and pulled at his collar. "Okay… just… just go in and… talk. Yes. That." He didn't move though, his legs still frozen in place. Really? It wasn't… this shouldn't be so scary.

He met Susan inside after managing to move his frozen legs. She smiled at him, one of her eyes closed, and Ford felt guilty. She liked him (for some...ODD REASON?!) but he was only feeling fear. "Uh, hello miss Susan." Ford managed not to stutter. She tittered and waved a hand at him, her nails well painted and manicured. "Hello yourself sweetie~" She grinned. Ford shuddered.

He stood in front of their table and there was a bit of an awkward silence before he remembered what Mabel had grilled him on and reach into his suit to take out the flower Mabel insisted he brings. "Ah, here." Ford said plainly as he held the (crushed and bruised) flower out, his arm straight, stiff and formal. Susan didn't seem to mind, giggling into her hand and taking the offered flower. "Aww thanks sweetie. You're such a doll~"

"I can assure you, I am not a small model of a human figure." Ford responded. Why did she call him such? Is that what he looked like? Dressed up in a suit, like a dress up doll? Like a toy?

Susan giggled at him. "Oh, you're so~ funny~ Well, will you sit down now or are you planning to stand there all night?"

Ford awkwardly sat in front of her and blinked at her with scared brown eyes. He looked down at the menu. You know what? He felt hungry, he could have something to eat and distract himself from this nerve wracking situation. Not even sneaking into that 2 headed monster's cave to get back their supplies while Stan was hurt back in space was as scary as this. And if he was eating, he wouldn't have to talk! Brilliant! He searched for which food item was the most difficult to eat, therefore, taking up the most time out of this d-date…

Susan was fluttering her eyelashes at him. Not that Ford noticed.

"So~ How's work in the Mystery Shack? I heard you all do lots of science stuff~" Susan asked, hoping to start a conversation.

"Uh huh!" Ford squeaked, not even bothering to correct her about the name.  _Breathe, Stanford_. A voice in his mind, that sounded a lot like Stanley, said. "Lots of science. Yes. I'm working on very important experiments." He nearly tripped over his words. Why was this so awkward?!

The waiter came (he couldn't believe he was here working instead of at home. Just because his boss did that teen a favor…) and took their order with a fake smile. "Hello, what can I get you two tonight?" The waiter asked. Susan pointed at her menu, "Can I have the cob salad to start? And a steak?" she asked. The waiter dutifully wrote this down. "How would you like it done?"

"Well done, please." Susan smiled.

The waiter turned to Ford and repeated his question. "Ah... " He calculated and finally stated, "I would like the lobster." he knew they were hard and required work to break open to eat. So, it would be the best bet to take up his time.

Unfortunately, he still had to spend the time waiting for the food with Susan. He wasn't sure what to talk about. She started speaking again, and from what he understood, she had cats, lots of them.

"Ah…I...never had pets...But-But my brother Stanley had a possum when-when we were kids…" He managed to tell her.

"Oh, that's so adorable!" Susan squealed. Ford shrugged. "I suppose, but looking back, it was quite dangerous to keep a wild animal with a knife strapped to its back." Ford frowned. "In fact, I'm surprised we weren't mauled." he was more surprised that he, the intelligent one, actually liked it and thought it was a good idea. It was rather lucky for three dumb 10-12 years olds. "Well, I haven't quite had any time for pets since. I have many delicate instruments in my lab, I can't risk any contamination or damage."

"Instruments? So you're a musician as well?" Susan asked, grinning. Ford frowned. "No, not musical instruments, scientific ones." He explained. It rather… annoyed him that she didn't get it. It wasn't even all that different of a definition. And everyone knew he was scientist! She should know! Still, Ford tried to make an effort to not get frustrated. "Well, I don't have time for pets anyway."

Ford was very uncomfortable, but Susan also didn't seem to be taking a hint, so both were down for suffering through this conversation.

Their drinks were served. Ford gulped down his. Dry throat.

"So… Your...eye...Um, did you…" Ford was curious, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings just to get information. Ashton said that was bad.

"Oh, I got hurt with Sebastian, actually…" Susan touched her eye. Ford frowned, confused. "My brother did that?"

This time, Susan was the one blushing. "Eh...Not exactly...When he first moved there were a lot of science stuff in the Shack and I hurt my eye with one weird thingy." She wasn't going to tell him Seb warned her but… whatever.

Ford winced. "Ah, I'm sorry?" Susan giggled. "It's fine. I'm used to it." The two sat in uncomfortable silence.

Their food was here. Finally!

They ate in silence, awkwardly smiling at each other from time to time. Ford coughed. "Well...If it was one of my old experiments...Maybe, I don't know, maybe I can look at what it was and...there's a possibility we can revert it, if you want?" He offered awkwardly. He couldn't think of anything that would do that though. Maybe Sebastian remembered, he had one awfully good memory.

"You would do that...for me?" Susan gasped softly. Ford shrugged. "Just, if I can find out what it was…" Susan's smile creeped him out. So he decided to concentrate on eating. When he was done, then it was paying and leaving. Then this whole nightmare was over.

"It's so sweet of you to come out with me tonight~" Susan leaned closer. Ford shrugged. "Well, my niece insisted I should at least give it a chance." Not that he fully understood why this had to happen. He didn't see a point in this whole affair.

"Well I'm sure you'll be glad you took this chance." Susan reached forward and laid her hand over his, stroking his wrist. Ford shuddered. "Ah…" It didn't… feel bad, but he was unsure how to handle this. "I-I suppose…" he pulled on his hand, "Ah, I need my hand back… the lobster kinda…" He smiled hesitantly. Susan let go, watching him eat. "So, you have such… large hands…" she rumbled with a sly look. "I like a man with large hands."

"I'm sorry, what?" Ford felt very uncomfortable. Susan simply batted her eye at him. "Oh~you know~" She leaned even closer. "Large  _hands_ ~" she purred.

Stanford's anxiety didn't allow him to continue any longer. "Non Specific excuse!" He shouted as he stood up from the table before jumping out of the nearest window, instead of using the door. He didn't know, but his family had a tendency to use the window quite often.

Mabel didn't expect her uncle home so soon. "Hey! What are you doing here?! You should be smooching miss Susan!" She scolded.

Ford untied his tie and groaned. "I-I don't want to date anyone ever again!" He whined, reminding Mabel of her youngest uncle's childish antics. "But why not?"

"I-I-she...it looked like she was going to eat me! I-..."  _She held my hands, I totally panicked_.

Mabel pouted at the saddened expression of her poor uncle and she went to hug him. "Aawww~ Don't worry, uncle Ford, we all have bad dates! Maybe miss Susan is just not for you and that's ok." She hummed as Ford sat on the couch. "Maybe you need to invite someone you deem attractive...Is there any cute girl at the center?"

Ford shrugged, feeling useless for this kind of thing. "How would  _I_  know…?" It wasn't like he went about rating his co-workers' appearances.

Mabel decided to let her uncle rest for a while and they completed more stuff from her list, like teaching him to knit, teaching him how to scrapbook and craft as many cute books as he wanted (he really liked that activity), and they made cupcakes they could decorate together. Mabel made waddles cupcakes, Ford did smiley faces.

But then, she talked to Fiddleford. He was Ford's best friend, he knew him better than her. "So, Uncle Fidds, what's Uncles Ford type? The first date didn't go as expected and I think he needs to date girls more like him, you know?" She was in Fiddleford's lab, accompanying him. "How was he like in college?"

The blond sighed and adjusted his glasses. "If I'm honest with you, Mabel, I have never seen him talking to women during college...We weren't all crazy for frat parties and what not, but in the few ones we had...Ford was always very uncomfortable... Heck, here in the center is the first time I've seen him talk to women at all…" Fiddleford hummed in thought.

"Is there a possibility...he doesn't like girls? Have you seen any...hints?" Mabel asked with a raised eyebrow. She passed him the screwdriver he needed. She just wanted her uncle to be happy like his brothers were!

Fiddleford thought about it. "Naw, he doesn't seem all that into them neither. He's more nervous around women, but I think that's simply due to the fact that he's traumatized over women from when we were younger. He had a tendency to accidentally say things that insulted them. It didn't end pretty."

Mabel rubbed her forehead. She had so much to teach him. Maybe they needed a day to prepare him for dates? She helped Seb get over his fear of water, she could OBVIOUSLY get uncle Ford a date! He was handsome, he just needed help with the first step!

"So… any women here at the center that uncle Ford isn't afraid to talk to?" Mabel asked.

"There's Dr. Wexler." Fiddleford said, and when Mabel's eyes gleamed, he added quickly, "But she's got a girlfriend." Mabel slumped in disappointment. "Darn!"

Fiddleford chuckled. Poor Mabel, she was taking this very seriously. "Well, I think you just gotta keep trying." He didn't actually have much hope himself. Ford was a nice guy, but he wasn't the easiest person to get along with, anyone who wanted to get with him would have to be very patient with him. Most people would have seen the amount of work they'd have to put in, weigh the pros and cons of the investment, and just give up on Ford. Anyone after him for his looks would realize he had not even a single romantic bone in his body and would never be able to return their affections without being prompted to do so, and anyone after him for his mind would realize he would never think of them as much as he thought about his work.

It was a difficult situation all around. More than that, Fiddleford was sure that Ford simply didn't even think about a relationship as a possibility in his life. Now, if that idea came from himself because he didn't want anything romantic (which Fiddleford still didn't understand how it was possible) or because he thought no one would like him for his hands, Fiddleford didn't know.

Mabel didn't seem less determined. "You're right Uncle McFidds! I just gotta keep trying! Maybe even try to invoke the Love God! That would help! Thank you!" She hugged the skinny man before running away. Fiddleford shook his head fondly. He just hoped Ford wasn't getting scarred with all this.

As Ford worked in his lab, Mabel stared at the Bottomless Pit with narrowed eyes. Dumb Journals. Why did they have to throw them away!? Dipper wrote about the Love God in there! The solution to her uncle's romantic problems was just there! She was tempted to jump inside, but considering the journals had not returned like they all did, it was safe to assume they were already somewhere else.

There had to be some other way to contact the Love God… actually, wasn't he a musician? Could she look him up? What if… Mabel pulled out her phone and ran a few searches. Well. Would you look at that. He was still doing performances. Cool. She didn't find a contact number though. But she did find out that there was another Woodstick festival this summer. And he would be performing there. Yeees~ a plan was forming.

But, the Woodstick festival wasn't for another few weeks! Uuuugh! Well, there was only one thing to do, work on her matchmaking skills on her own until then. The Love God would be a last ditch thing. She wasn't sure if he was still mad about what had happened a few years ago so… yeah...

Her next plan was fool proof! Mabel took Uncle Ford to a pool day because he was all cooped up in his lab and all their activities had been indoors. "So, I met a real merman in this very pool, you know~? His name was Mermando! I helped him go back to the lake! He was my first kiss!" (And Dipper's, but she promised not to tell anyone…)

"Fascinating. The fact that you met a merman, but...yeah, your first kiss is...nice too?" Ford tried to think of something to say. Mabel laughed at his awkwardness. So much like her twin. Dad used to complain about it, how Dipper was all awkward and so UNLIKE him because dad was sooo COOL.

"I…" Ford rubbed the back of his neck. "I met a siren once...um, we had a date-like meeting...She tried to drown and eat me, but it was interesting."

"Maybe you are more about paranormal beauties…" Mabel pensively muttered under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing!"

So the pool was the best place to see cute boys  _and_  girls. She changed her uncle's glasses for dark ones and they sat down in two free chairs. "So, we have our dark glasses." "Yes." Ford agreed. "So, no one can see us watching people. Remember, I don't judge, everyone's attracted to people for different things. For example, I like watching boys with muscled arms. It's really hot!"

"Please stop."

"But not too much muscle. That's kinda a turn off. What I do like is guys with big butts!"

Ford was starting to wonder how he ended up talking about this with his young niece. "...Ok…"

"So, this is an exercise. You are going to look at the lovely ladies around here, or the lovely men, tell me what you like the most and then when we find the one you really really feel like talking to, you are going to stand up and invite them to hang out." That way it was him choosing.

"Ma-Mabel, sweetie, I don't think I can…" Mabel shook his arm as he trailed off. "Look! Look! There's a woman there! What do you think of her?"

Ford blushed as he looked at the woman with a scared grimace. Um...she-she...her bathing suit is a nice color?"

"Really? You noticed  _that_  from all of her?" Mabel raised a questioning eyebrow. That woman was very pretty! With her smile and her nice body. "Don't hold yourself back just because I'm here~ I know men~" She reassured her blushing uncle.

"Ah… her hair is… very… nice?" Ford winced. He didn't know what Mabel was expecting from him.

Mabel sighed. Looks like she had to take drastic measures…

Mabel stood up with determination and opened her mouth to shout at the top of her lungs, "WHO HERE WOULD WANNA DATE MY UNCLE?!"

Ford was mortified. Then he was even MORE embarrassed when several women (and two men) raised their hands. He covered his bare chest and huddled in his chair. Nooooooo!

Mabel planned to get all of them to speak to her little naive uncle, it should be easy, just getting to know each other, but she SERIOUSLY didn't expect a group of women pushing each other ("I RAISED MY HAND FIRST!" "MOVE, BITCH!") and then having all of them fighting each other to get to know Ford. Some lifeguards had to get involved. Wow… looks like her uncle Ford was a bigger deal than she thought.

"...Maybe we should go home~" Mabel grabbed Ford's hand and dragged him back home. Ford wasn't even reacting, his face was so red Mabel feared he'd catch on fire.

"You know, that would have been a good idea if those women hadn't started throwing punches!"

"I don't want to do this again, Mabel." Ford spoke up with a stern tone. The girl looked up. "Your little games are driving me insane! We can do stuff together, bond or whatever! But I don't want you to try to manipulate me into dating women or-or men! I  _ **don't**_  like it! I don't want to be with anyone! I can't feel what normal people feel! I don't feel love, ok?! I don't want a partner! Please!"

Mabel's eyes widened. She could see tears welling up in her uncle's eyes. She...didn't mean to stress him out like this. "Ok, Uncle Ford...No more dates…" She nodded and the two walked back to the Shack in silence.

But she couldn't believe that uncle Ford couldn't feel love. That… would have been too sad.

-.-

….Well… that… didn't go as Mabel expected.

The Woodstick festival came and went. She managed to track down and corner the Love God. She scared the crap out of him and the poor cupid tried to escape, but Mabel begged for him to evaluate her uncle and find him his perfect match.  _"Everyone has SOMEONE! RIGHT?! Maybe he just hasn't found his ONE yet…"_  Mabel bit her lip.

The deity simply took one look at Ford and scoffed before turning away.  _"Can't pair up what doesn't exist."_  was his muttered response before flying away in annoyance.  _"Damn kid, at least she didn't steal my potions this time."_

So… Mabel didn't know what to think. It… it couldn't mean that her uncle Ford had no soul mate. That… couldn't be true! That was… too sad. Maybe he was lying! He still seemed upset with her about that summer...Maybe he was trying to mess with her in return...But he did look at her uncle…

When Mabel turned her worried look onto said uncle, Ford didn't seem all that worried for what the god said. A little resigned… melancholic… but also… relieved. She couldn't understand it.

-.-

Mabel was with her uncle in the living room, silent and slightly uncomfortable. She was knitting in silence as Ford read a book. It'd been a week since the Woodstick festival, and two weeks since the pool date. The two sighed at the same time. Their attempts to get Ford a date were a disaster.

"Why do you feel uncomfortable with dating, Uncle Ford?" Mabel asked with simple curiosity. She really wanted to understand, it had been bugging her for a while, ever since what the Love God had said, and Ford's response to it. Ford didn't want to date, but she didn't get why! She  **loved**  dating, personally. She wanted, needed someone in her life. "I'm not going to try anything…" She clarified after seeing the face he was making. "I just...You felt so convinced you couldn't feel love? Everyone can, you know?" She pursed her lips adorably.

Ford sighed and put the book down. "I wish I could answer that, Mabel...But I don't know. I don't like men, as you  _keep_  insisting, but I...don't feel like I'm attracted to women either, you know? I...know that there's something wrong with me..."

Mabel crawled towards her uncle to hug him. "I don't think you're wrong, Uncle Ford…" She reassured him. "Maybe…" She sighed. She didn't know. "From my experience, I liked dating because we'd kiss~ and touch each other and that feels nice."

Ford rubbed his face, a little embarrassed Mabel was so comfortable telling him about this. "What do  _you_  expect from a date?" She asked.

Ford thought about it and couldn't help but shudder a bit. "Well, I definitely don't want them to touch me." Mabel listened carefully. "I-I mean, like a hug is ok, alright? But-but I feel everyone thinks that I would want to-to have…" He lowered his voice and whispered. " _Sex_  with them." He sounded almost… disgusted at the idea.

"And-And that's all this dating thing is about!" Ford complained. "Getting to know someone that you like  _physically_. But I can NEVER know if I'm attracted to anyone physically! Maybe personality! But still! It ALL leads to... _doing_  it with them! And I don't wanna do that!" He exclaimed rather loudly, finally voicing what was bothering him.

The mere thought disgusted him, but he knew that was weird as hell, no one disliked doing...that. Stanley said it was normal to feel attraction to someone and want to fuck them. Stan even found  _aliens_  appealing! (Though Stan held back on spending a night in any of their beds because he had Carla, that was a surprising thing to witness.) But-...But Ford couldn't see why. He knew that the urge to mate was a biological thing, but… he just  _didn't_  feel it. Heck, even Sebastian, who used to be a TRIANGLE demon, was able to feel a basic human need such as this, and yet Ford simply… couldn't. Would that make Seb more...human than him?

Mabel was nodding slightly, like a psychologist, a psychologist who stroked their patient's fluffy hair. "Umm...So you don't feel sexual attraction at all...but have you ever felt...like, ticklish and all warm over someone? That, maybe you saw and wanted to talk to them~ Or, spend time with them?"

Ford rubbed his head in thought. "Well...there...were some girls… back when I was a teenager." And if there had been boys, Ford had no idea how to recognize it.

Mabel's eyes lit up. Ok, so sexual attraction was a 'no' but romantic… possibly? "Well? Who were they?"

Ford looked down, a bit embarrassed. "First...Cathy Crenshaw, she-she was from my class in 5th grade…"

"Aaawwww!" Mabel cooed.

"I-I had a little crush on her, she-she raised her hand to answer a question that she got the answer to  _before_  me and I…-It's so silly, I don't-I don't think that's even a crush..."

"Nooo~ it's definitely crush worthy! That made your little  _baby_ nerd heart go all crazy for her!" Mabel cooed even louder. "Did you talk to her?!"

"I tried… but I scared her with my hands…" That had hurt a lot. He quickly got rid of that crush. Forgot any possibility of sitting down with her during recess and solving multiplication problems together...

(...and really, what sort of person would even want to do something that… pointlessly nerdy with him? No one, that's who!)

Mabel's heart sunk a little. Oh. "I-I'm sorry… and the-the other girl you liked?"

"Her name was Maria Walters...She was in my Latin class and won the spelling bee contest...She spoke so  _fluently_  and she knew a lot about old history…" He sighed. "And she threw a cup of punch at me during a school dance."

Mabel hummed in thought before she was enlightened. Disregarding this talk of his past crushes, she was still thinking about what he'd said about not being physically attracted to people. "Stanford Pines, I know what you are!"

"...What I  _am_?" Ford looked up at Mabel who was still hugging him.

"You're  _asexual_! But you  _do_  feel attracted to people! Your type is Smart people! It's clear you like intelligent people! But not just anyone! Only certain people who's intelligence piques your interest! That's your heart deciding  _what_  type of intelligent girls you like!"

"I'm pretty sure I was just a raging mess of hormones back then." Ford sighed. Mabel shook her head. "No, but seriously. You might be asexual."

"But I am male." Ford responded. Mabel groaned. "No, you silly! I mean you're Ace. It's… it's like… I'm Straight. I'm a girl and I like guys, therefore I'm straight. Dillon is a boy and he likes guys, therefore he's gay. You're a man, but you don't like people in a sexual way, male or female, so you're asexual!"

The world suddenly made so much more sense to the girl. It would explain SO much about her uncle!

Ford blinked. "That's… a  _thing_? There's a word for it?!" So… he… wasn't just some… freak for feeling the way he did? Frankly, Ford had never discussed romance with his therapist. It hadn't been something he thought was important. "I… never knew that…"

"Well it is very much real! Like water!" Mabel assured him.

Ford let out a shaky laugh. Asexual. It...was a thing. He-He wasn't wrong for not wanting to have sex!

Mabel squealed. "Oh my god~Ok, this actually helps a LOT, you know? Now I know why you were so awkward!" She patted his curls. "But! Don't you go around saying you don't feel love. Everyone can feel love, Uncle Fordsie...You love your family and your friends!" Ford hugged her softly when she said that. "AND you are not aromantic,  _probably_  demi, but you definitely feel attracted to people! You're just picky." she added, "But even if you were aromantic, that wouldn't mean you were wrong or can't feel love. You can still love your family. And love is love. It doesn't have to be romantic." She poked his nose. "Sex isn't everything in life anyway, even if it feels GOOD."

"Oh, gosh, Mabel please I don't want to hear my niece talking about that! " Ford mumbled. Mabel laughed loudly.

"Well, now that our mental limitations are down, it'll be easier for YOU to realize when you have a crush~ I promise I wouldn't force you on dates anymore, but it doesn't stop YOU from trying! You just gotta grow a pair and talk to them! Talk to them about nerd stuff!"

Ford rolled his eyes. He didn't know how to do that, or if he was capable of it, but he humoured his niece for now. "Sure~ You know, I am in a very good mood today, lets go get ice cream!" Ford had a sweet tooth, he didn't show it often but those who knew him very well knew he was lucky to not have cavities.

"Two scoops?! With brownies?!" Mabel gasped. "As many as you want!" Ford grinned.

Uncle and niece ran outside to get into Ford's car. Ford felt like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. Knowing he wasn't wrong, that it was ok to feel how he was feeling, it was such a relief and he couldn't stop smiling. Mabel snapped a few photos of the happy owl for later.

-.-

The uncle-niece bonding activities continued.

"So, I heard from Fiddleford that Soos showed him a lot of anime in preparation for your battle with Bill?" Ford settled down beside Mabel in the living room. She nodded. "Yeah, it gave him a lot of ideas for how to weaponize the shack into a robot." Mabel shuffled through her DVDs. Amazing that she still had them, considering most people just watched stuff on Netflex nowadays, but Ford didn't have Netflex yet. Heck, he didn't even have a flat screen TV. It was so weird that he ran a science center with all new technology, and yet he didn't even own a modern television!

But whatever. Mabel had some old anime DVDs she could make him watch with her.

"I'm surprised Soos hasn't made YOU watch anime with him. You're housemates! Don't you have like, sleepovers and you know, do fun stuff together?" The girl asked her uncle. Ford frowned a bit. "We live in the same house… that doesn't count as...sleepovers." He did have sleepovers in Sebastian's room with Stanley though, back when they were children, but still technically not sleepovers.

"PPFFT! Of course it counts! You two are friends now! Friends do that!" Mabel insisted.

"I...have never had a sleepover…" What with kids not inviting them anywhere and thinking he was a freak and all that. And… that time he was living with William didn't count, that wasn't a sleepover, it was  _asylum_ as they prepared for their journey.

Mabel pursed her lips. "Well~ You have the perfect chance now! Better late than never! You should have a movie night, build a fort here in the living room and watch scary movies and eat popcorn and junk food until you pass out. In fact, we should do that tonight!" She declared. Maybe not scary movies, but anime! "We'll invite Soos for an anime night! And Melody too! So we're an equal number of girls and boys! And you're friends with her as well! I saw you in their wedding!"

"Ahem." a soft voice called out. Mabel and Ford turned to see Abuelita sitting in her armchair. Mabel jumped. "How long have you been there?" Mabel could swear she didn't know Abuelita was here.

"She does that, I think she has powers." Ford whispered to his niece.

"Abuelita do you wanna watch anime too?!" Mabel offered. Now that Mabel knew she was here, she might as well! The old woman tittered. "Well, I wouldn't mind. It makes Soos happy." So with that decided, Mabel ran off to go tell Soos the good news about their evening plans. Ford followed her. Soos was so happy he practically sparkled ("Dood! I've got a whole collection of DVDs I've wanted to show Dr. Dude!") and the sight was rather adorable.

Ford snorted a bit at the nickname, he didn't even correct his niece for her improper grammar. At first he thought Soos didn't see him past something formal, as the brother of his friend, but then he realized Soos called Seb 'Mr. Pines' and Stan was the 'other Mr. Pines'. So it wasn't because Soos didn't see him as a friend, it was because he...just called them that, it stuck, like Seb calling Stan 'Fez' for some weird reason and him 'Sixer'.

"Ok! You tell Melody about the plans as well! Me and Uncle Ford will go buy snacks in town and then we'll start working on the pillow fort!" Mabel ran back to the living room to tell Abuelita they were going out for a bit, and then pulled her uncle outside. "You know, this is the perfect time to let me practice my driving!"

"You're learning to drive?" Ford asked. Mabel shook her head. "I failed my test. I am apparently too crazy behind the wheel! Pfft! Mom tends to exaggerate! Like Dipper! Dad thinks I did it just fine!"

"I'm sorry, but I don't trust your dad's judgement." Ford shook his head. But it couldn't have been nearly as bad as Mabel made it sound. "Alright, you can drive my car into town as practice." How bad could it be?

-Five close calls, one cop chase and half a heart attack later-

"Ground! Sweet merciful stationary ground!" Ford wailed as he flung himself out of the car and curled up on the sidewalk.

"Oh, come on! It wasn't that bad!" Mabel complained as she rolled her eyes. Ford stayed on the floor for a while more, making sure he was actually safe and not in the hands of this insane young woman, before he stood up. The scientist wiped the dirt off his sweater, marched up to his waiting niece and snatched the car keys off her hands. "Your dad's judgement sucks." He simply said before walking into the mall, Mabel stuck her tongue out and walked behind him. "You're just a boring nerd!"

"Obeying traffic laws is not boring." Ford said firmly. "Vehicle safety is very important." Mabel opened her mouth to continue arguing but Ford interrupted her. "And don't come to me with that 'No cops' bull crap. Stan and Seb are BOTH wrong and THERE  _WERE_  cops!" Mabel closed her mouth and pouted.

They separated to cover as much ground as possible and get as many junk food as they could for their sleepover. Ford put five family size bags of jelly beans in his cart. After being unable to buy them on his own (because Fiddleford told every store in town to not sell him jelly beans while he was in treatment) he was glad he could satisfy his need for candy and sweets independently. And basics like, fries and cheetos. He grimaced at the toffee peanuts exhibited. They kept selling this?! Never understood why Stan liked them so much.

Among the stuff Mabel got, she grabbed a premade mass to make homemade pizza and the rest of the ingredients. She also got some juice boxes and sodas. She met her uncle by the register to pay and they joined their chosen items. "You got jelly beans?" Mabel giggled. Ford opened a bag of them and slowly took some to his mouth. "Yes."

"Do you really like that much?" Mabel rolled her eyes when he repeated a monotonous "Yes". Maybe he was still upset she almost crashed against a tree? But she saved it just in time!

"Oh, you innocent soul. You definitely haven't tried Barry Potter's jelly beans." She shuddered. That was a dark time in middle school. Everyone was obsessed with them. She saw at least 10 kids throw up during break and lunch time in less than a month. The new ones were the Jellybean Japed, where you had two options: decent or incredibly disgusting.

"What's with them?"

"Oh no, I'm not going to ruin your favorite candy, Uncle Ford. I love you too much for that." Mabel patted his arm.

Ford nodded slowly, not getting it. "Ok...And~ What's Barry Potter?" Ford asked confused and Mabel gasped offended. Now  _that_! She wouldn't tolerate. "Ok. Remind me to take you to the bookstore! You need to be EDUCATED! There's seven books you gotta read! And then we will have a movie marathon." Ford smiled. He liked to read!

They bought their snacks and took everything to the car.

Ford drove back home this time.

-.-

They watched several anime movies. Ford really like the Ghibli films, they were beautifully animated and the depictions of magical creatures, while inaccurate, were still fascinating.

Then they got distracted watching some of Abuelita's soaps. Ford, despite himself, couldn't pull his eyes away. "No Marie! Can't you see he's lying to you?!" Ford wailed at the screen while Mabel snuck off to get some more snacks.

She also grabbed something else on the way back.

Ford was still ranting at the tv, thoroughly invested in the dramatic lives of these characters (apparently, his love for dramatic soap operas was a thing he shared with his triplets), when he felt something brush his cheek. He blinked and looked over. "What are you doing, Mabel?"

"I'm gonna give you a makeover~" the teenager grinned. Ford shook his head. "Why?" He frowned. "I would not like to have make up on me."

"Ppfth~ fine~" Mabel rolled her eyes. Chicken. "How about a facial cleansing instead? It makes your pores feel really nice~"

Ford wasn't sure what that was, but Mabel was going to get one of these 'cleansing' herself. And Abuelita and Melody were getting one too. And from what he was seeing, Mabel was doing a great job convincing Soos.

He sighed heavily and gave up. Sure. Ok. Why not? He had been doing what Mabel liked all this time. He only wanted to spend time with her and show her he cared. If having this weird, sticky substance on his face did that, he'd do this.

Mabel first worked with Abuelita, squealing at how soft and granny-like she was. Melody helped applying the treatment to Soos (who nearly fell asleep at how relaxed he felt during it) and then Mabel turned to her scared uncle with a big grin. "Let's make you cute~"

Some minutes later, everyone was in the living room still watching the soap opera but with green face masks. Ford wanted to scratch his face but Mabel didn't let him. "No touchie!" She whispered and added another hair clip to his hair. She said his fluffy curls were getting in the way, so she pulled it back with hair clips.

(drawing by Miz!)

He felt ridiculous, and didn't doubt he  _looked_  even more ridiculous. The scientist was so glad his brothers weren't here. They'd mock him until he died of embarrassment. Face masks like this were something his mother used to do. He smiled a little when he remembered his triplets and him sticking their tongues out at her in disgust when they were children, he would complain and Stan would-

"HAH! I knew she was faking her pregnancy to stay with Fernando!" Ford screamed, train of thought completely interrupted halfway through another episode. Mabel giggled. This was so much fun! And seeing this side of her uncle was so nice.

She curled up next to him and after his initial surprise, Ford hugged her close. This wasn't that bad.

-.-

Among all the weird activities Ford had done with his niece up until this point (She even wanted to go to the forest to hug a mountain lion! He had to convince her for 10 minutes that it was a bad idea), this was the least...weird.

Except she had described it as "Kicking his ass".

Mabel was wearing sport clothes and woke him up early to have a training session of martial arts. They were in the backyard of the house. (Ford hoped none of the other scientists could see them from the center's windows). Mabel claimed she had been practicing with Sherman before and she wanted to show Ford her fighting abilities.

"I wanna know space martial arts! How did you kick alien ass?!" Ford chuckled at her excitement.

"Well, I knew nothing about fighting or 'kicking ass'-" Mabel laughed when he said that. "-Except from the little things I remembered from my boxing lessons as a kid. The training I got was basically Stan's training sessions for football." He had been very out of shape back then. Stan trained him to gain weight and muscle, or else he wouldn't have survived.

"So you're technically prepared to play football?" Mabel asked. "No. I am not and I don't like the idea of having other men throw me to the floor! Or the possible head injuries." Ford made a thinking face. "Though my tackling is actually very good. My specialty is pinning though. Restraining my opponent and neutralizing the threat with the least amount of damage."

Mabel rolled her eyes with a grin. Silly Uncle. Ford continued, "Of course, we had some help from a friend we made in space...He gave us some technology which made everything definitely easier and faster." They owed William a lot! "Like the translators. Stan and I wouldn't have survived without those. And the food scanner to test if anything was safe for human consumption." Ford still had it, in fact, he was thinking of letting Fiddleford have a go at that old thing and see about making more or making a new version that could be used to figure out people's food allergies. It would be useful.

(Ford took this time to realize that the translator and food scanner were essentially the things he'd wanted, back when he'd first began working on the portal, he'd wanted to go into space, into other dimensions, to get new technology that he could repurpose for changing the world… well, Bill had lied to him about the portal, but… He had met William, and that nicer demon had given him these, he had helped Ford achieve a small part of his original goal and dream, entirely by accident. And… Ford smiled fondly at that.)

"That's so cool! Fight me!" Mabel pulled his arm, unaware of her uncle's warm memories.

"What?" Ford looked back at Mabel. "Mabel, I don't want to hurt you."

Mabels eyes narrowed. She kicked her shoes off and with a war cry, kicked her uncle's side. "Ow!" Ford cried, more out of surprise than actual pain. Mabel bounced around the man with her fists up. "Come on uncle Ford! I wanna see how I measure up against a space adventurer!"

"No, Mabel, I can teach you some things, but I won't fight you." Ford winced. He was sure that if he ever accidentally hurt her, Shermie  _would_  kick  _his_  ass. And he didn't doubt Shermie could break some or most of his bones.

"Hyah!" Mabel kicked him again. "Chicken!'

"Mabel, stop." Ford watched her punch him in his stomach. She realized she couldn't hurt him and started doing it repeatedly.

Ford sighed. Nope. He already almost hurt one of his nieces, he wasn't going to repeat it. But… Well… when Mabel launched another attack at him, Ford deftly caught her leg and twisted, startling a yelp out of her as Ford pulled her down and had her land gently against the ground. Ford had to bend over a little but he got Mabel effectively pinned.

"You see? You could get hurt." He explained. "And this is me being super careful. If I got serious, I could hurt you." He shook his head. "I had been in survival mode for 13 years, Mabel, I killed and hunted different animals and alien specimens. My senses are enhanced from surviving, do you see how dangerous it is for-"

Mabel freed herself from his distracted grip and with a kick and elbow hit pushed him back. She also swept his legs out from under him. "Woo!" Mabel cheered when Ford went down with a yelp. "Don't underestimate me, suckah!" The young woman grinned at him, sitting on his chest.

Ford slowly got back up, making Mabel roll off him as he went, and found himself grinning as well. "Well, I admit you caught me off guard. But that's just because I'm holding back against you."

Mabel rolled her eyes. "What a chicken." But she guessed Uncle Ford could be dangerous if he really wanted...He survived in space after all! "Ok then! You just gotta defend yourself from Mabel's murder attacks!" Mabel said with full confidence.

Ford nodded slowly with a smile forming on his face. "Ok, I can do that." That way, he wouldn't hurt his niece and he could give her fighting tips. He took off his sweater and threw it to the couch on the porch. He was wearing a black short sleeved t-shirt.

"Aaarrghhh!" Mabel ran towards him. She tried punching him, but Ford easily blocked her arm. "You're being very predictable." He grinned. Mabel tried kicking him and he moved to the side. "Guard up, Mabel." Ford poked her side.

"Let me hit you!" Ford laughed at her frustration. "When you're facing an opponent, you must think fast! Find their weak spot~"

The girl obeyed her uncle and the two practiced for hours. She tried to hit him with all her might, and while it hurt, Ford didn't complain. He even taught her some wrestling holds he knew. Mabel apologized when she choked him too hard.

Ford rubbed his neck as he gasped for air. "That...was very good. Good job! Ow. I want your grip on my arm to be tighter though. One slip and your opponent can attack!"

"Really? But I thought this way my victim couldn't turn around…" Mabel said thoughtful. "How could they counterattack?" She asked innocently.

"Well...just like... this!" Ford trapped Mabel and picked her up. "Aaahhhh!" The girl shrieked with laughter. "Let go, you tricky owl!" She wiggled her way out and Ford fell to the floor, laughing.

True to Ford's fears, his friends were all crowded in the research center's third floor, watching the scene unfold from the big windows. "The boss is pretty good. Maybe that's how he takes down the monsters in the forests."

"Well, he DID survive terrorists and 13 years on the run…"

"Five bucks on the boss."

"Stop making bets, Bruce!"

"...Six bucks on the girl."

Fiddleford rolled his eyes (they were so childish sometimes), and looked down at Ford and Mabel. They weren't actually fighting so it was pointless to bet. He smiled in content as Mabel had now started tickling Stanford with the shout "TICKLE ATTACK!"

"No! Come on, boss, stand up!" "GO GIRL!"

Ford looked so happy, and Fiddleford felt happy for him. Mabel being here was doing him good. He took time off work and was starting to eat regularly again. Soos and Melody helped a lot, but...this was different. He didn't know how to explain it.

Maybe Mabel was right and his old friend needed someone in his life, to remind him working wasn't everything. Having a partner might be good for him, not just because of romance, but because having someone who could be by his side, supporting him and loving him would work wonders. The man obviously thrived under the attention, even if he didn't notice it himself.

And then, Mabel found a way to insert romance back into the equation. Specifically, her own.

"Why am I here again?" Ford asked. Mabel giggled. "You're my wingman. Help me find a boy!"

"I am absolutely sure that this is not something I will be able to assist you with."

"Why not?! You're asexual, not blind~" Mabel giggled. "Besides, you can tell those boys just how amazing I am, and that he should totally date me!" Mabel adjusted Ford's sweater collar. Cute. The perfect wingman. She was sure he could tell those boys nice things about her, right?

She had convinced Soos to host a party in the Mystery Shack, but this time, for teenagers only. She didn't want little kids here! This was serious business. Ford agreed as long as they cleaned afterwards, but now he found himself trapped in Mabel's plan.

"I could...try?"

"That's the spirit!" Mabel cheered as she ran off to get her outfit and makeup on. She had to look absolutely amazing tonight!

Mabel was sitting in the bar, sulking. This didn't go as she expected. While it was incredibly funny watching Stanford act as wingman...he was terrible at it. Now the boys knew she threw 'very good punches' and "her wrestling wrench was nearly at a professional level!" And she was sure most of them were scared and intimidated. None of the boys here were willing to be with a girl who could snap them in half. Damn cowards.

She wouldn't say anything to her uncle though, he was trying his best, and he seemed proud. She sipped her juice. She couldn't even drink! No alcohol at these parties since the guests were all underaged.

"Hey~"

Mabel turned around at the weirdly familiar voice and gasped softly. A boy around 15 was smiling at her. He was wearing a blue shirt and his white hair was slicked back.

"Come on, say something! I paid the offensively high entrance fee just to enter!" The teenager rolled his eyes.

"Gideon!" The girl finally gasped and watched the younger teen sit next to her. "It's...been a long time…" She smiled sheepishly. She hadn't seen him in years!

"Oh, tell me about that!" Gideon exclaimed. Mabel noticed he still had a very young voice, and it didn't match with his body, he had at least grown up and wasn't a stumpy little boy anymore.

"Every second you're not here is boring and feels like an eternity!" Gideon grinned at her, placing his hand over hers.

 _Welp. This got weird._ Mabel grimaced _._

"So~ Why are you here?" Mabel asked, pulling her hand away and curling both hands around her drink to keep them away from Gideon.

"Oh! I heard you were in town! I wanted to see you again! I keep missing you whenever you drop by for holidays and all. How are the rest of the Pines anyway?" Gideon asked, not really sounding interested in them, more like he was just asking to be polite.

"They're fine, fighting a demon didn't stop us from living our own lives! Dipper and I finished school-" Mabel shrugged, sipping her drink. "Oohh~" Gideon leaned in, making Mabel scoot her chair over a little to put some distance between them. ''...And my little cousins are so grown up! Seb's kids turned 4 and they're-"

"Yes, yes, but tell me more about you! How're you doing, sugar plum?" Gideon asked.

"Okay, please don't call me that." Mabel glared. Gideon backed off and raised his hands to wave them in front of himself. "Whoa! Sorry Mabel, just a slip. Look." He put his hands on the table and sighed. "I just… I was a real brat when I was a kid, I know that. But I've grown up. And, well, you're important to me." Gideon ran a pale hand through his hair and side glanced at her. "I just wanted… to see if maybe we could try again? I just-"

"Urgh… no!? You tried to kill my brother! You tried to kill my uncle! Multiple times!" Mabel stood up from her chair. "And you tried to kill ME!" She huffed. Gideon got up from his chair too. "Mabel- I- Look, I was just nine! I was a stupid kid! I'm sorry! I really am! I feel really bad for what I've done." Gideon tried to protest. "And I helped you too! I held off Bill's goons so your brother could get to your bubble and free you!" Gideon's breathing was turning agitated, scared. "Do you have any idea what Bill  _did_  to me for betraying him!?"

Mabel blinked. "What? You did?"

Gideon blinked as well. "Ah… yeah. Remember? When Bill trapped you in that bubble and…" A look of realization came over his face. "Your brother didn't tell you?!" He looked  _ **livid**_. "Why that no good, dirty lying, backstabbin'-" Gideon seethed, his accent coming through strong.

"Hey! Don't call Dipper that! We were busy with more important things than saying who did what! Sebastian almost  _died_!" Mabel's gratefulness was wiped away.

The younger teen realized his mistake and bit back a curse. "...I'm sorry…" He said in a soft voice. "I-...I just got angry. Thinking that, you never knew how much I cared for you...and you still had the idea that I...was a bad guy." He pouted with a very sad and pathetic face. "It just… it's been like, five years. I can't believe he didn't tell you, in all that time- he promised me he would!" Gideon whined.

Mabel's glare softened just enough to not look pissed off, just upset. "I get it...but I don't like it when people insult my family, especially not my twin brother." She said seriously and Gideon nodded quickly.

"I know, I'm very sorry…"

"...But thank you. For helping me back then…" She smiled. "Sorry it took so long to thank you."

Gideon's face broke out into a smile. "Awww shucks Mabel, you're makin' me blush!" He took a step closer to her and Mabel sighed. "Just because I'm grateful, doesn't mean I'll date you."

Gideon froze and his eye twitched. "B-but… can't we at least try? I won't try to pressure you into marrying me this time! I- we can just… hang out again. Do each other's hair? You used to like doin' that."

"I thought you were a fun friend to hang out with." Mabel sighed. "But I'm not  _into_  you like that."

Gideon looked down and his fists clenched and unclenched. "Please, Mabel." He whined childishly. "I just… I want to have a second chance. I want to do better this time, please, just give me a chance-"

"No, Gideon…" Mabel glanced at her drink. "I  _don't_  like you, really. But, if you want to we can try to be friends." She offered with a small grin.

Gideon's lower lip trembled. "But...But I  _love_  you...I promise I can be better…" Mabel glared. "Just because  _you_  love me, doesn't mean I'm  _required_  to like you back."

"You think I'm not good, don't you?" Gideon trembled. "It's obvious you feel that way because you always thought I was a bad guy, because your brother never told you I sacrificed myself to help you!"

Mabel's eyes narrowed a bit. "So my opinions and feelings are totally invalid to you? I can't just  _not_  like you? It's only because of my brother? There has to be some  _reason_  why I'm rejecting you?" She laughed a little. "How entitled  _to me_ do you think you are just because we had a few play dates when we were kids!?"

"I never said that!" Gideon cried and Mabel shook her head. She knew she was pretty childish in her behavior sometimes, but she wasn't a  _child_. Not anymore. "Leave me alone, Gideon. Maybe when you actually  _respect_  me, we can talk again." The girl stood up and tried walking away, but the younger teen whined. "Mabel, no~! Please! I swear I respect you!"

Mabel groaned as she tried to get away from him. When she wished boys liked her she didn't mean stress her out and being straight up creepy! Gideon caught up to her and stood in front of her, waving his hands erratically. "Wait, wait! Sugar pl-Mabel, please! I-I want to try to be friends, yes? You said we could try!"

"Gideon! Urghh! Nooo!" Mabel looked around to try to find a way to get away from this uncomfortable situation. Her eyes lit up when she noticed her tall and awkward uncle sitting on a chair. "UNCLE FOORDD~!" She called with what sounded almost like a whine.

Ford walked up to his niece and looked at her. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?" He looked at the boy with white hair. He recognized him as the kid from the Fearamid, the one caged up with them, who was also one of the zodiac members, but he didn't really know him. "Is everything ok?"

"Mr.-Mr. Author." Gideon squeaked. Mabel narrowed her eyes at the white haired teen. "Well?" Ford insisted with the serious expression he always made when he meant serious business.

Like when he questioned Soos about his stash of chocolate that SUDDENLY disappeared!

"I-see you later, Mabel…" Gideon mumbled before quickly getting away from the older Pines. He would try again some other day! He promised to do better!

Mabel sighed in relief and smiled at her uncle. "Thanks for the save, Uncle Ford, I really didn't want to ruin my night talking to Gideon." She stuck her tongue out at the idea.

Ford looked in the direction the boy left and then back at his niece. "Do you need me to kick him? Is he bothering you?" He narrowed his eyes, feeling a protectiveness surging.

Mabel chuckled. "Nah, he's just an annoying kid, nothing to worry about!" She punched his shoulder with all her might. Ford laughed and unconsciously rubbed it. It didn't hurt, but muscle memory. He looked at her arm and gasped softly. "Hey!" He hadn't noticed it before! "You have a tattoo!" It was a smiling shooting star.

"Yup! Isn't it adorable!? I want Dipper to get a pinetree one! But he's boring!" Mabel grinned. Ford shook his head with a smile and leaned closer to whisper. "Look."

He tug down his turtleneck and showed Mabel his own tattoo. He expected a laugh, because this was something very stupid he did, but instead, Mabel gasped in amazement.

"Uncle Ford! That's so COOL!" She exclaimed. "And it's so freaking cute~! We're star tattoo twins!" She declared.

Ford chuckled and just nodded. He wasn't kidding when he said he liked Mabel for how weird she was. It made her unpredictable and very interesting to hang out with.

"Selfie! Promise I will only keep it in my gallery for posterity!" She pleaded. Ford nodded (a gallery?) And Mabel snapped a photo, both of them showing off their incredible awesome tattoos. #party #tattoo twins #nerd uncle!

-.-

Mabel stayed the rest of the summer. And at the end, she had many more fun things to do with her uncle who also seemed to be having fun!

She helped in the lab and learned many sciencey things! Even more than in high school! Uncle Ford also taught her very cool science experiments that would have been useful back in school. (Though the school board probably wouldn't have allowed most of these because of 'safety' or something dumb like that.) They made an upgraded version of a bicarbonate volcano and almost caught the lab on fire. It was so cool!

One day, when they were playing with Waddles, Ford asked why Seb always claimed he fought a pterodactyl. Mabel then showed Ford the entrance to dino world but they didn't enter, despite Ford's insistence. "Uncle Ford, there are literal DINOSAURS there! And one almost ate us!" And they used a dinosaur for the battle before putting it back in, she doubted they'd be happy to see them after that.

"To be fair, with global warming those guys will be melted free soon enough and you'll be able to see them." The teen shrugged and Ford pouted.

She was right...But he hoped the Earth wasn't so fucked up just yet for that to happen. It'd suck to have dinosaurs roaming around...

She did take him to illegal mini golfing in the middle of the night. He sucked at it, but he claimed it was because he was nervous about breaking the laws. Then, to calm his poor heart, she presented him to the Lilliputians. "We saved him using the Shacktron!" Mabel pointed at her bespectacled uncle.

"Ooohhh! Hello!" The little creatures introduced themselves. "Greetings. I read about you in Dipper's additions to my journal!" Ford shook fingers with them and made some notes himself.

And then, the FUNNIEST adventure was proving to her uncle that the bottomless pit would spit them back out. Ford wasn't sure, his head screamed no, but his idiot heart said FOR SCIENCE! And so they went. They were prepared this time though, in case something happened. They had ropes, the grappling hook and walkie-talkies. Mabel also brought her fully charged tablet so she could show her uncle some cartoons and shows to pass the time if they ran out of stuff to do while waiting.

Ford put on a chronometer and the two jumped, like the idiots they were. Mabel entertained him by telling him about the time everyone fell in and they all shared some stories. To pass the time, Ford told her about some funny and crazy adventures he had with Stan behind the portal, like a world where everything was M shaped, a world where people aged randomly, and how lucky they were to get the stuff they needed and get out with their normal ages intact.

"You could have returned as babies?!" Mabel squealed. "That would have been so adorable!" Ford frowned. "No. It would have been extremely dangerous. Imagine if both of us turned into babies? Or one of us. One of us as a baby meant the other had to take care of them, and I am in no way prepared to take care of a baby...or an old man! I'm sure Stan would feel the same-"

"Wow...now I have this adorable picture in my mind of you two coming out of the portal as kids~ Uncle Seb would have been the oldest~" Mabel flailed around in glee.

"And I'd be in school right now, living with my mother.  _Again_. Yeah, no way." Ford made a dramatically disgusted expression and Mabel laughed out loud.

They were finally spat out of the pit and Ford looked at his chronometer. It marked a 0...How interesting…

Before any of them realized it, summer was coming to an end…

It was the first birthday Mabel had ever spent away from Dipper, and ironically, SHE was the one staying with her uncle in town, while Dipper was back in California.

She was 18 now...TECHNICALLY an adult! She didn't feel very different from when she was 17, she still loved many 'childish' things, and she was still herself! So… being an 'technical' adult wasn't… as scary as she'd thought it would be.

She got a birthday hug from everyone at the Shack and she got a new phone (from Uncle Fidds tech!), which was cooler than the old one she had, much to her excitement. "And this is for your brother, alright? Ford gave her another box for Dipper.

"THANK YOU!" She squealed and almost brought Ford down with the strength of her hug. "You're very welcome…" Ford patted her head. "You made this summer very...interesting…"

Mabel giggled. "Oh, just admit you'll miss me, old man!" She punched his arm. She was leaving in the afternoon so they had time for one more activity on her list.

Drawing together.

The last time the two drew was when Mabel was 13. And this time, Ford painted a hand turkey on  _her_  hand. The two laughed and Mabel snapped another photo that was going in her scrapbook later!

Mabel turned to look at her uncle and sniffled a little. "Thanks, Grunkle Ford…This summer was cool… I loved spending time with you." before Ford could reply, Mabel threw herself over him for a hug. She was very happy she bonded with her nerdy uncle. She'd always felt bad that she hadn't gotten to hang out with her third uncle.

"Thank you for visiting me as well...And I'm sorry we...we don't spend as much time together…" Ford apologized softly. "I am sorry I made you feel like I prefered Dipper over you. I love both of you all the same."

Mabel pulled apart from the hug after she'd gotten in her cuddle levels and with a thumb (the turkey's beak), poked his nose. "It's alright~ We got a whole summer for ourselves this time!"

When it was time, Ford took Mabel to the bus station and said bye to her and Waddles. "Don't worry, old man! It's not like you're disappearing again! We'll see each other again for Hanukkah! This time it's in Uncle Seb's house!"

Ford smiled. Mabel boarded the bus carrying Waddles and waved at him from the window. "I'm selling Dipper's new phone!" She shouted.

"No you aren't~!" Ford laughed as he shouted back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please comment and see ya next chapter!


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